


The Accidental Curse

by raeinspace



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Gen, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-19
Updated: 2013-08-19
Packaged: 2018-05-21 13:11:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 27,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6052816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raeinspace/pseuds/raeinspace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Regina accidently sets off a new curse while asleep. Time is completely frozen in Storybrooke and she has no idea how to reverse it. The only other person not frozen is Emma. Set after season 2 episode 16.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Accidental Curse

**Disclaimer: I don’t own OUAT, etc..**

**AN: This was the first fanfic I ever posted. Copied here in one go, rather than splitting up the chapters. I haven't re-read since it was originally posted, but thought it would be a good one for my first post here. Enjoy**

* * *

 

# Chapter 1.

 

Cora’s words screamed through her mind until all she wanted to do was destroy something.

Regina picked up the nearest object to her without looking at it and threw it across the room. She gradually went through item after item, sobbing in relief as the voice dimmed to a whisper.

_Enough._

It was her mother’s word, but not her voice. Regina paused, allowing her gaze to clear and looked around.

“Get out.”

“I know you’re upset…”

“Miss Swan you have three seconds to leave before I unleash my magic to start destroying everything in this room.”

“What will that solve? You’ve already smashed everything.”

Regina stepped backwards as the other woman left the doorway to move further into the room. Her foot skidded on the crunching glass and as she reached out for something to grab hold of she realised that Emma was right. She really had destroyed everything.

“Balderdash!” She cried out, after she had landed on her back amid the sharp edges of ruined furniture and mementos.

When she heard a giggle at the word she raised an eyebrow.

“What did you say?” Emma asked. “Baldy-what?”

“The word, Miss Swan, is Balderdash. I try to refrain from swearing around Henry and no, it is not a made-up nonsense word either.”

“What does it mean?” Emma held out a hand, offering to help her back up.

Regina ignored her and stood on her own. “I believe the library has a perfectly good dictionary. Perhaps you should spend some time there, it might help when Henry has homework.”

“About Henry…”

Regina held out her hand, palm up. A small cloud of purple smoke appeared and began to trail down to the floor. “Leave now.”

“No. We need to talk.”

“Fine.” The corner of her mouth curled up into a smile. “I tried to warn you.”

The purple smoke expanded, covering the room. Everything collapsed into tiny particles of dust with a loud bang, and flew around the room. Emma stood in a protective bubble and watched as Regina, similarly protected from the chaos, walked away. She tried to follow but met an invisible wall and had to settle for calling Regina’s name. There was no reply.

~~~

Regina waited until she had heard the front door close before letting out a long breath. Was the Sheriff so insensitive that she didn’t realise she needed to be alone? It had been a close call, choosing to protect her from the final destruction of the room. She could only hope Miss Swan hadn’t seen any of the items before they were destroyed.

Her hands clenched at her sides. No, she didn’t care what the Sheriff thought, or what she told her mother. She needed time to mourn. She needed time to decide what to do next. Follow her mother’s plans to regain power? Continue her quest for revenge against Snow White?  Did she dare to go after Rumplestiltskin?

She yawned. Why couldn’t people leave her alone? She didn’t know whether to be angry or sad, both emotions were alternately pressing in on her heart until she couldn’t breathe. She lay down on her bed and closed her eyes. What she needed was time. Time to think and work things out away from everyone.

~~~

# Chapter 2.

 

Emma was pacing up and down by the kitchen counter, glaring at her father and raising her voice. It was not how she had pictured spending time with her birth parents, even as a teenager.

“Of course I’m upset. Mary Margaret just killed someone. I’m the Sheriff, that means I’m supposed to arrest her.”

“Your mother did it…”

“Don’t even try to defend her!”

“Cora was evil.”

“Do you think maybe that was because she didn’t have her heart? Did Mary Margaret even consider just popping it back in to check without taking her life?”

“Rumplestiltskin must have tricked her…”

“ _Mr Gold_ , didn’t give Regina her mothers heart so that she could watch her die in her arms seconds later.”

“His name is Rumplestiltskin, and your mother clearly didn’t feel she had another choice. She is Queen…”

“This is Storybrooke. Not the Enchanted Forest. We don’t have Kings and Queens and fairies and leprechauns…”

“If you’d let me finish my sentences…”

“Emma’s right.” The quite, whispered voice of Snow White interrupted them both.

“Snow, she doesn’t understand.”

“She’s seen Henry’s book. She knows as much as we do about Regina and Cora. And she’s right. This is Storybrooke and the laws are different here. Emma I…”

Emma backed away from her mothers approach. Pain flashed in Snow White’s eyes as she registered the rejection and Charming instantly went to comfort her.

“I can’t deal with you right now. I still need to tell Henry what’s happened. I’m sorry.” Emma grabbed her coat and tried not to run as she left the apartment.

When she had gone, they stood there in silence.

~~~

The lights were still on in the mansion. It was 1am and Emma was sitting in her car conveniently in view of the upper windows. She had left Henry with his grandparents, figuring his calm reaction to the latest news regarding his mother had yet to settle in. There was some worry that he secretly shared David’s opinions, that now everyone knew the truth about Storybrooke he accepted the books claims that Mary Margaret had a pure heart. Emma knew from past experience that no-one was that good.

What was Regina doing?

She pulled the keys out of the ignition and got out of the car. She’d seen too many reactions to a loved ones death to know Regina shouldn’t be alone. It was time to stand up and be the Sheriff. To check on a certain resident who might be in trouble. There was no answer when she knocked on the door. Perhaps she could say she heard something break and a voice calling for help and go inside?

She reached out for the door handle, just to test it. It wasn’t locked. She let the door swing open on its own, waited a second, then looked around her.

“The front door was open, I thought someone had broken in.” She tested the lie under her breath as she stepped inside.

It sounded plausible enough to her.

“Regina? Hello? Anyone home?”

She decided to check upstairs first, none of the lights were showing downstairs. In the second room she tried she found her. Regina was lying on top of her bed, fully dressed, and fast asleep. Emma tried to back out of the room as quietly as she could, but she heard Regina mumble something and, thinking she was awake, moved back into the room to listen. Before she could give her excuse for intruding, Regina’s words became clearer. It appeared to be a spell of some kind.

“Regina, what..?”

The shockwave sent ripples out from the centre of the bed, forcing Emma to her knees.

~~~

# Chapter 3.

 

The pale sheets rustled beneath her as she woke up. She couldn’t believe that she had fallen asleep in her clothes. If her mother saw her…

Regina bit her lip to keep from crying as she remembered what had happened. Her mother was dead. She would never tell her how disappointed she was again. There would be no more lectures on how a lady should act. She had told her she loved her for the last time.

Pushing away those thoughts, Regina sat up and looked around the room. The sun was pressing softly through the curtains, reminding her that another day had begun. She walked over to open the curtains and gazed down at the town below. It was quiet, which meant that it was early or most of the residents would have been out and about. The Sheriff’s obnoxious yellow car was stationed outside, no doubt with the Sheriff nearby attempting to act the Saviour again.

She glanced up at the clock tower and shook her head. That couldn’t be right. She’d have to get someone to fix it, after all she had never slept until the afternoon so the problem must lay with the clock.

As she turned back towards the door she paused, realising it was open. She had definitely closed it last night. That meant someone had been in her house. She felt the magic tingling in her fingers as she considered what to do when she found them.  Moving swiftly around the bed, her head held high, she didn’t notice Emma at first. The blonde was curled up on the floor half in the room and laying half in the corridor. Regina stood over her for a moment, trying to decide whether she should try and wake her or just step over her so that she could leave the room. In the end she chose to teleport her out of the way and returned her home. As she had only ever seen the front section of Mary Margaret’s apartment, she was only able to teleport her onto the sofa, but she considered the act more than generous. Then she set about getting ready to go outside.

~~~

Emma reached out a hand to switch off her alarm clock, and promptly tumbled off the sofa and onto the floor.

“Ow!”

She looked around trying to remember why she was sleeping on the sofa and rubbed the back of her neck, which was feeling sore. She had lost count of the number of times she had fallen asleep on a sofa only to wake up the next morning with a hangover. At least this time it was just the pain from lying in the cramped position. It was strange, usually Mary Margaret would have put a blanket over her to keep her warm.

She stood up slowly, stretching out her back and arms. Her parents were sitting with their backs to her, on the stools at the kitchen counter. Their heads were almost touching and they were holding hands.

“Morning guys. Am I up late or did you wake early?” She asked as she walked over.

They didn’t reply.

“Look about last night, I’m sorry. Clearly there are going to be some things we disagree on but that’s normal for families. We just have to figure out if its worth staying mad about. I’ve talked to Henry and I think he understands…”

At this point Emma had reached them and put a hand on her mothers shoulder.

“You can’t stay mad at me forever.”

The stool swung around and Emma backed away from her parents, swearing automatically. Mary Margaret wasn’t moving. Her eyes were closed and she didn’t even look as though she was breathing. Emma reached out for her father, and was confronted with the same from him.

“Henry!”

She left her parents and ran to his room. He was sitting up in bed with his quilt pulled up over his head. Emma pulled the quilt away and tears sprung to her eyes as she looked down at him. He was frozen in the middle of reading his book by torchlight, eyes still open.

“Wake up. Henry wake up!” She shook him but he remained where he was. “Come on kid, what’s happened to you? I don’t know what to do… wait. A kiss, right? Same as you’re always talking about, or the same way I woke you up before.”

It was worth a try. She whispered to him that she loved him and kissed his forehead. Then she held her breath, waiting for him to wake up.

Nothing happened.

“Regina! If she did this to you… but why would she hurt you? I mean, I think she loves you and she always said she’d never hurt you. Wait right here, I’m going to get help.”

Emma ran from the room, trying to decide who to ask first. Mr Gold, the Mother Superior or Ruby? Granny’s was closest and maybe Gold would be there with Belle for one of their breakfast dates, she told herself. She had to calm down and focus. Henry was depending on her.

An hour later and she had been everywhere in the town she could access without breaking down locked doors, and everywhere she had found the same thing. She stopped off at the Sheriffs office and picked up her gun.

There was only one place left to go.

~~~

# Chapter 4.

 

Regina sipped her coffee slowly. There was no rush to go anywhere today. It wasn’t like they needed her to go to her office and pretend to be the mayor anymore. Now that Snow White had killed Cora, everyone would be busy congratulating her and asking her to run the town. She would spend the day in her garden, shutting out the rest of the world with her magic. Then tomorrow she would visit her fathers grave and bury her mother. The preservation spell should hold up until then. They could finally be united.

No. Those thoughts were for tomorrow. Today she needed to do something that didn’t involve people or death or painful memories. There were weeds to be removed, the apples to be checked and perhaps a chance to trim the grass. A privacy spell around the entire mansion would give her a chance to wear her comfortable clothes without anyone able to see her.

The front door slammed open. Clearly it was too late for the spell. She placed her mug on the coaster and stood up, smoothing down the front of her grey dress. Using her left hand to push open the kitchen door, she prepared a small fireball in her right.

“What did you do?” Emma screamed at her when she saw her, raising the gun in her hands.

Regina raised an eyebrow, extinguished her fireball and waved the gun away with a puff of dark purple smoke.

“I don’t allow weapons in my house.” She told the Sheriff.

Emma ran towards her. Sighing, Regina waved her hand again and froze her legs in place.

“I will kill you.”

“This is the third time you have broken into my house in the last 24 hours, Miss Swan. Adding death threats when you know I have magic is not the smart thing to do.”

“You will undo whatever it is that you have done or not even your magic will stop me from hurting you.”

Regina laughed. “You’ve broken the curse. I haven’t done anything else to you or anyone else in this town.”

“Then why are we the only two people still walking around?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Have you looked outside this morning? Notice anything different?”

“The clock is broken. Everything seemed peaceful.”

“Because you’ve cast a new curse on everyone. I don’t know why I wasn’t affected, unless its because I was…” She stumbled over the words, realising that Regina had been asleep when she dropped by that morning.

Then remembering that Regina was also responsible for what had happened to Henry and everyone she picked up where she had left off. “Your lights were still on at 1am. I came back to check on you. I thought you were asleep but you were mumbling something. That must be when you cast the spell. I don’t remember anything from after that, until I woke up at home this morning.”

Regina stared at her as though she was crazy. “Miss Swan I didn’t cast any spell or curse last night or this morning. I may have considered every option I have to kill your mother, but I was too tired after your first visit to do anything about them. You were asleep on my bedroom floor when I woke this morning. I assumed you were merely stumbling around drunk when you passed out and kindly teleported you home.”

Emma knew there was only one way to get a true reaction from her. “Then why is everyone in Storybrooke, _including Henry_ , not moving?”

Regina felt as though someone had picked up a corner of the floor and pulled it away from her. She was going to be sick.

“Henry…” Just saying his name brought everything sharply back into focus.

Her eyes narrowed, pinning Emma into her sight, and she straightened her back.

“Tell me, Miss Swan, exactly what has happened to my son.”

Suddenly it was Emma’s turn to be surprised. “If you’ll release me, I’ll take you to him.”

~~~

# Chapter 5.

 

Regina ignored the people they passed. They weren’t important to her. Henry was. She followed Emma back to the apartment she shared with her family, realising how ironic it was that four people could live in such a small space while she was living alone in the largest home in town. Of course she had planned it that way, that Mary Margaret should have a peasants-size home, not even a house really, while she had the closest thing to pass for a palace in this realm.

Emma led her into Henry’s room. He was sitting in exactly the same position she had caught him in too many times before.

“Torchlight is not good for his eyes.” Regina automatically told her, while scanning the room with magic to see what had caused it. “And he needs his full rest to maintain his school grades.”

“What he _needs_ , is to be breathing.” Emma retorted, moving to her son’s side.

“He is breathing.” Regina confirmed, still distracted with her spell.

“Then why isn’t he moving?”

“If you give me a moment I should have an answer… ah, there it is!” Regina smiled as she identified the source of the magic, then frowned. “But that doesn’t make sense.”

“Share, Regina. Now.”

“According to this… the person responsible for the spell or curse… is…”

“Spit. It. Out.”

“Me?” Regina held out her hands to stall Emma’s next words and spoke quickly. “But I didn’t. And if I had Henry would be fine and you would be the one who… well, would be like that. Don’t you see I couldn’t have done this? I don’t understand why this happened but…”

“You wanted to be alone.” Emma interrupted her. “Yesterday you saw your mother die and you wanted everyone to leave you alone. Could you have cast the curse without meaning to? You were talking in your sleep when I came over, then something in the magic hit me, knocking me unconscious.”

“That is highly unlikely, this level of magic affecting so many people takes concentration. My original curse required a great sacrifice.”

“So this sort of magic can’t happen accidentally? Even to the point where it affects Mr Gold, the all-powerful Dark One?”

“He could pull it off. So could my mother. I, on the other hand, had to be given the original curse to know what to say and do to enact it. Still…”

“What?”

“Oh don’t worry, everyone’s going to be fine. I was just thinking how you were right. This did grant my wish from last night, with you as the minor exception of course.”

“So when can you fix it?”

Regina smiled at her. “I’m sure it will wear off eventually. No-one has really been harmed.”

“There must be some spell or potion you can try?”

“A dozen or so at least.”

“Then try them. Or don’t you care about Henry anymore?”

“I will brew as many potions as it takes to find a shortcut, if that is what you want. But,” Regina rested a hand on the end of Henry’s bed, not daring to step closer to her son while Emma had that look in her eyes. “But you will have to choose people for me to try them on. I should warn you that if I am wrong even only slightly, the results will not be pleasant. I’ve had my fill of being called Evil in one world. If you want to select victims to practice finding a cure on then their fates rest entirely in your hands. After all, you are their Saviour, are you not?”

“How do I know that it will wear off? And that we won’t die waiting? Henry could wake up all alone, not knowing what happened to me…”

“Our minds may not be frozen like theirs, but our bodies will not age. We appear to have simply stepped out of their time for a short while. Unless you do something stupid, you won’t die. If it will make you feel any better, why not leave Henry a note in his book?”

“For you to kill me and destroy the note afterwards?”

“If you promise to leave me alone and not kill me, I will do the same.”

“I’m not sure I believe you.”

“It’s going to be very lonely until everyone wakes up again, Miss Swan. I’m used to being alone. Are you?”

Emma looked down at Henry, knowing she couldn’t risk loosing him again. “Swear on your love for Henry.”

“I, Regina Mills, upon my love for my son, Henry, swear not to kill you so long as you promise the same to me.” She held out her hand.

Emma swore the same and they shook in agreement.

~~~

# Chapter 6.

 

For three days they managed to avoid each other. Eventually though, Regina had done every possible thing she could to her garden to tidy it. Now that it was frozen in time no more weeds would grow and none of the flowers would die, leaving her with nothing to do until time re-started again. She had worked off most of her anger and was allowing herself to remember the few good times she had spent with her mother. The pain was still there, but she knew it was the type of pain that would make her strong and forced herself to endure it. She would not run away like a coward and, she realised, she had only promised not to kill the Sheriff. The rest of the town was fair game.

She went to Granny’s diner first, intending to cook herself something and see exactly what the town had been up to after her mother had died. The closed sign was on the door but it was slightly ajar and opened when she pressed her hand against it. Emma was sitting at the counter, tucking into a slice of fruit pie.

“I see you found where Granny hides the spare key.” Regina commented as she closed the door behind her.

Emma turned around, startled. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m walking through the town I created. I do hope you were going to pay for that?”

“Of course. I started a list of things I’ve borrowed and left it by the till. Mary Margaret didn’t have a chance to go shopping before you froze everyone so we were a little short of food at home.”

“I hope you were planning on washing up your plates when you’ve finished. It wouldn’t be fair on Ruby to have to wake up and find they’ve run out of cutlery.”

“It’s just a pie Regina and they have a dishwasher in the back.”

“Assuming that it’s a pie baked by Granny, it has also been sitting out for at least three days.”

“Tastes as good as if it was baked this morning. Why don’t you have a slice?” Emma waved at the cake stands.

“If the grocery store is locked I can open it for you. I have a key to every building in Storybrook after all.”

“I’d just end up buying ready-meals. Granny’s got a few meals in the freezer which she cooks at home and reheats here for the customers, they’re probably healthier.”

It was also really spooky staying at home, waiting for everyone to wake up. Every time she walked past her parents in the kitchen she wondered if, the second she had turned away, they would be free. At least their eyes were closed, so when she was trying to eat something they weren’t starting at her.

“Do I even want to know what sort of meals you cook for Henry?”

“Actually Mary Margaret and David do most of the cooking. When they’re out I bring Henry here.”

Regina shook her head. “This sort of food is not healthy.”

“I’d love you see you tell Granny that. Especially when I know you let Henry eat here. So what are you really up to?”

“I wanted a change of scenery. I thought I’d cook myself lunch and enjoy the view. I brought my own supplies.” She held up a bag with everything she needed. “I guess now that you’ve finished your lunch it’s too late to ask you to join me?”

Emma smiled. “The pie was breakfast. Lunch would be great. Perhaps we can talk about what we’re going to do while we’re stuck here.”

“I was being sarcastic Miss Swan.”

“I know, but I’m a terrible cook so I’ll eat anything you can make. Besides, it feels like weeks since I could talk to anyone, at least anyone who could talk back to me.”

“I can see you plan to spend your time annoying me when possible. Perhaps we should consider dividing the town up? You stay on one half and I’ll stay on the other. The diner and grocery store would be neutral ground and we can arrange specific hours when the other can visit to eat in peace.”

“You really like organising everything, don’t you?” Emma laughed. “I’ll tell you what, if you cook I’ll wash.”

She had decided to keep an eye on Regina. It would be a new project, one Henry would be proud of. There clearly wouldn’t be any crimes until the curse was broken so she had plenty of free time. Perhaps, if she was annoying enough to Regina, the woman would be forced to find a way to break the curse early.

~~~

# Chapter 7.

 

Regina spent her days the same way she had always done as Mayor. She made a list of everything which needed to be done in Storybrook, inspected the town for any problems, magically re-arranged the deliveries for the grocery store now that there were only two people needing supplies and ensured that they would continue to have water and power. The sun rose and set, being far removed from the cursed area, giving her some idea of time passing and allowing her to count the days as they went by.

 

After a week, they had gotten into a routine. They would meet at the diner for lunch, Regina would cook and Emma would clean up afterwards. Then they would go their separate ways until dinner when they would repeat the same process over. Regina refused to invite Emma into her home and cook for her there. Emma refused to allow Regina unsupervised access to her home when Mary Margaret and David were so vulnerable. Regina argued that she wanted to see Henry, but Emma stood her ground and told her she would have to promise not to harm her parents if she wanted to visit. With the way she was feeling, Regina knew she couldn’t make that promise, even on a temporary basis. When she came face to face with Snow White again, there was no telling how she might react.

 

When she was sure Emma wasn’t around, she broke into Archie’s office and looked through his notes. She wanted to know what he had thought about her, Henry, Snow White, Emma and her mother. He might also be able to explain why Henry had gone looking for Emma in the first place, because that was something she still didn’t understand and something Henry wouldn’t talk to her about. She wanted to know if he had made any notes after talking to Emma, she needed an advantage in dealing with the woman who had grown up in this strange world. Out of everyone she had frozen, she wished he could trade places with Emma, just so that she could talk to him. Conversations with the Sheriff were limited to the repetitive “When will this curse end?” and “Hong long until everyone wakes up?” variety. The shrink would have tried to help her figure out her feelings about her mother, and perhaps that would allow her to find a way to wake Henry up. Or perhaps she could just take Henry away from Storybrook and give him new memories, ones where he was her son and he didn’t remember Emma. Of course she’d have to remove the memory of them from the minds of everyone in Storybrook. What she really needed was to remove her memories of her mother and Daniel and Snow White. Then some kind of magic would come along to mess things back up and find a way to bring the Charming family back together.

“I’m finally willing to talk to you cricket,” she told the statue on the couch, “but of course I’m meant to suffer alone. As always.”

She put the files back, unread, telling herself this wasn’t a healthy way to act. She was a Queen. She would have her happy ending. Her mother had loved her, even without her heart, so maybe she had to start listening to her advice.

 

 

~~~

# Chapter 8.

 

Not one to sit around doing nothing, Emma had tried to keep herself busy. First, she had looked for Mr Gold’s invisible chalk, which was still in the pocket of the black coat she had been wearing, and successfully raised a barrier around Mary Margaret’s apartment. She followed the instructions as she remembered them, thinking of those she wanted to protect and hoped that it would last until she could come back to check on it. Next, she tried to pick the lock on Mr Gold’s shop so that she could search for information on the curse. It was an attempt that failed in epic proportions, Rumplestiltskin having activated a magical lock once he had regained his powers. The powerful electric shock that seared through Emma’s hand and left it numb for two hours, along with a long red scar up her arm. She covered up the mark on her arm with bandages from the hospital and a long sleeved top so that Regina wouldn’t see it. There was now also a large crack in the pavement outside the shop where she had been standing, but there was nothing she could do about that. The library was easier to break into, but she didn’t understand Belle’s filing system and gave up within an hour. She tried sorting through the paperwork in the Sheriff’s office, but she was bored after half an hour and kept being distracted by the idea that Regina might, at that very moment, be trying to break into her home to rip out her mother’s heart. So she set off to spy on the former Mayor and check that she wasn’t up to anything evil.

 

Emma watched Regina leave Archie’s office and followed her across town, keeping to the doorways and hanging back when there was too much of an open space. When Regina turned towards the pier, Emma counted to five before heading around the corner. She was so busy trying to be quiet, she didn’t notice Regina was waiting and walked straight into her.

“You would think that you would have realised that with everyone frozen I’d notice the slightest movement of someone following me. I know you didn’t train for the role of Sheriff but surely you have some idea how to follow someone without being caught?”

“I’m just out for a walk. The Sheriff’s office was quiet.”

“It was a rhetorical question, Miss Swan, but I can see where Henry gets his ability to lie unconvincingly.”

“What…”

“If you ask me one more time what I’m up to, I won’t be responsible for my actions, promise or no promise. You are worse than a small child, Miss Swan.”

“If you were honest with me I wouldn’t have to ask.”

“If you must know, I have been doing my job which is caring about this town. I am making sure everything will still be running smoothly when everyone wakes up because that is what I have been doing for the last twenty–odd years. Don’t mistake me, I don’t actually care about the people anymore, but it is my town and I have decided that if they don’t like it they can be the ones to leave.”

“Even Henry?”

Regina forced herself to turn and walk away. Emma followed her, reminding herself that she was supposed to be keeping an eye on Regina and the best way to do that would be to stop avoiding each other.

“I have work to do Miss Swan.” Regina called over her shoulder.

Emma didn’t quicken her pace, wanting to give her some space. “Maybe I can help.”

Regina paused and turned around. “The point of the curse was to give me time alone. It’s not going to end until I’ve worked through my subconscious issues. It would help if you left me alone.”

“I’m bored. There’s no drunks to haul into jail, no lost puppies to find…”

“I supposed you’re expecting to be paid during all this non-time?”

Emma shrugged. “If I still need to eat and pay for stuff, I guess.”

“Then I have a few jobs for you. I’ll bring the list to the diner at our next meal. Now go away.”

 

 

~~~

# Chapter 9.

 

Regina wandered around the town, enjoying the silence. She visited the places which held the best memories for her, ones from Henry’s childhood, and replayed them in her mind. At the school she visited Henry’s classroom, searching for his work on the walls and amongst the projects. She looked through the head teachers files to see how he was doing in class and was disappointed to see that his grades had slipped since he found his birth mother.

At a quick lunch with the Sheriff, she handed over a list of small issues in the town such as replacing light bulbs in the town hall and removing the graffiti from outside the bar, which Emma took without much of a comment. Regina told her to get anything she needed from Geppetto’s hardware store and to make a list of the prices so that it could come out of the city’s budget.

She visited the beach after lunch, fully expecting to find the Sheriff following her and watched the waves crash against the shore. After half an hour she teleported to the cemetery to visit her parents graves. It was a mistake.

She stared at her mothers headstone, a simple grey stone with just her name and a heart carved into it and began to cry. Why was it that the moment she had begun to love her she had to be taken away, why couldn’t she have had more time with her once she returned her heart?

She was reaching around in her handbag for a tissue when her hand connected with a strange round object. Regina held it up to the light, admiring the intricate pattern in the silver and turned it over. It was a small mirror, not one she had seen before. Who would have put it there?

Regina shook her head, now was not the time for mirrors and questions. Silently, in her mind, she spoke to her parents, imagining that they were standing in front of her together. They would be holding hands, her father would have an arm around her mother and they would both be smiling at her as she spoke to them. They would listen without interrupting, and tell her how much they loved her, they would promise that she could still have her happy ending and that they would always be there for her.

The conversation comforted her. When she was ready to say goodbye to them, she felt as though a great weight had been lifted from her heart.

“I’ll see you again soon, sweetheart.” Her father told her.

“We will always love you Regina.” Cora added as they faded away.

Regina dried her tears and waited a few moment more, staring at her mothers grave. With a flick of her wrist, she added a few lines to the head stone and then walked away.

~~~

# Chapter 10.

 

Emma waited for Regina in the diner. She hadn’t bothered to get changed out of her paint-stained clothes because she was too hungry to wait any longer. When Regina didn’t show up on time she tried not to worry. After twenty minutes, she was angry. She had been working through the Evil Queen’s list – calling her that, even if it was only in her mind helped her feel a little better – slaving away and the other woman was making her wait! Emma took out her mobile phone, checked that it still had a signal and tried the diner phone to see if it was still working. She waited for it to start ringing, but there was silence. All right, _fine_ ,  so maybe Regina couldn’t have called to say she was running late but the town wasn’t so big she couldn’t have dropped in by now. Emma stood up and went into the kitchen. She washed her hands under the sink and looked around to see what sort of food was available.

By the time Regina arrived she was just sitting down at the counter, her boiled eggs and buttered bread placed in front of her. Emma ignored her.

“I’m sorry I’m late. I didn’t realise the time.”

Regina’s voice sounded strange but Emma didn’t turn around. She listened as Regina’s footsteps came closer and cut the bread in half.

“Miss Swan, are you really going to act like a child and ignore my apology? I didn’t do this on purpose.”

She swung around on the stool. “Then why is it that you got to yell at me for bringing Henry home late?”

“Henry is a child and he has a bed time.”

Emma studied Regina’s face, looked at her slightly puffy eyes - which even the best makeup couldn’t quite hide from someone who knew what they were looking for – and gave up her anger.

“I boiled you two eggs. They’re still in the kitchen. Figured you’d have a good reason, even if you didn’t want to tell me. According to our deal this means you have to wash the dishes. I tried making an omelette with some sliced peppers and tomatoes, but it wasn’t edible. Figured I couldn’t go wrong with boiled eggs.”

Regina looked a little stunned at the change of attitude but nodded and walked around to the other side of the counter, stopping to look back at Emma. “I hope you didn’t leave too much of a mess.”

“I left the dishes in soak and put the food rubbish in the food recycling bin.” Emma tapped the egg in front of her a little too hard, annoyed that Regina was treating her like a child.

Raw egg flew over the counter and towards the two women.

Regina looked down at Emma and slowly flicked a piece of egg shell off her jacket as Emma studied the clear goo in her hair.

“Exactly how long did you cook these eggs for?”

“Four minutes like you told me.”

“Uh huh. And at what point did you start the timer?”

“When I switched the hob on. I kept the temperature low so that the water wouldn’t boil over the saucepan. What went wrong?”

She couldn’t help it. At first just the corners of her mouth twitched as she fought to control herself, but then Regina tilted her head back and laughed.

“Jeez, I told you I couldn’t cook. It’s like the kitchen hates me.”

When Regina had stopped she picked up Emma’s plate and ordered her to go and wash up in the toilets.

“What about you?” Emma asked.

Regina snapped her fingers and all traces of raw egg vanished.

“That hardly seems fair.”

“If you’ll trust me, I can clean you up as well.”

“Pretty please?”

Regina shrugged and waved her hand towards Emma removing both the egg and paint from her clothes.

“Thanks.”

“Now I think you should follow me and I will show you exactly how to boil and egg.”

Regina disappeared into the kitchen. Emma gave her a moment, letting her take in the mess she had left in the kitchen before getting up to join her.

 

# Chapter 11.

 

Regina was marking time off on a piece of paper she kept on the desk in her bedroom. Another week had passed. The Sheriff was still working through the list she had made of odd jobs to be completed across the town. Regina had given her a lecture on health and safety after finding her balancing at the top of an old ladder trying to change a light bulb.

“Three points of contact Emma!” She had shouted, startling the other woman.

When she had calmed down she had marched Emma back to her office and made her sit down and read through the health and safety manual she had prepared with information taken from books in the library and the internet. Emma refused to read the whole thing.

“Just give me the basics.”

So Regina sat down with her and marked out the relevant pages, giving her a brief introduction on each. Manual handling (“lift heavy objects with your knees not your back”), working at height (“get someone to stand at the bottom of the ladder in case you fall, always keep three points of contact on the ladder – that can mean two feet and one hand or two hands and one foot if you’re climbing”) and basic first aid (“I don’t want to have to take you to the hospital because a cut becomes serious when you could have dealt with it straight away using the first aid kit”).

“Perhaps we could take the time to do something nice for other people.” Emma had suggested. “I know you think making sure every single light is working in the town hallway which already has like, thirty other lights working is important but maybe we could think outside the box.”

“For example painting the antique shop to apologise for blowing a hole in the road outside?”

“Ah, you saw that? I can explain.”

Regina nodded. “I’m sure that whatever you were doing was very important. Perhaps you saw an animal trapped inside and wanted to remove it before Rumplestiltskin woke up and found it?”

Emma put her hands on her hips and simply glared back at her. “I was going to suggest individual things for different people. I know Ruby wishes Granny would pay someone to fix their dishwasher but it needs too much work so they have to wash everything by hand. We could go online and look up the instructions and fix it for them.”

“Or perhaps a nice bunch of flowers?” Regina asked sarcastically. “Machines like that are complicated. You would need to understand plumbing and be qualified before thinking about touching it. If you make the damage worse it won’t be repairable if she changes her mind.”

“Are you saying that you don’t think I could do it?”

“It would be easier to just buy them a new dishwasher.”

“Queen’s may not have to worry about being self-sufficient because they have servants to run around doing all the work, but I learnt the hard way. I’m going to read the manuals and see how hard it really is.”

“Try not to floor the kitchen when you forget to switch the water off first. You have no idea how hard it is to clean something like that up.”

“What would you know about it?”

“I’ve had twenty-eight years to read a book or two on plumbing.” Regina hinted.

“If I ask you to help what would you want in return?”

Regina just smiled.

 

# Chapter 12.

 

If Granny had seen the state of her kitchen she would have had more than a few words to say to them. When Regina brought over her tool kit, neatly labelled with every possible tool imaginable, Emma had excitedly begun to rummage through then proceeded to empty them out onto the floor like a small child with a box of toys. It took Regina another ten minutes to re-organise them on the floor and match them up to the instructions she had found.

“Are you sure you’ve used these before? The one spanner I found a Mary Margaret’s had rust on it. These look like you just unwrapped them.” Emma asked her.

“A true workman keeps his tools in pristine condition because that is how they work best. If you ever try to use your mothers spanner you will discover that.”

“And you really didn’t hire someone to fix your plumbing every time something broke?”

“Well, Graham was always around and of course he offered, like any true gentleman.”

“So you didn’t really do anything?”

Regina began to get annoyed. “I read the instructions and explained what he had to do.”

“But no actual manual labour?”

“Are you going to talk throughout this… experience? Or would you like to get to work?”

“Fine. What do we need to do first?”

“Did you remember to disconnect it from the water supply?”

“Is that in the instructions?”

~~

An hour later and they were still in the kitchen. Emma was disappointed to discover just how much the replacement parts for the dishwasher would cost. Regina explained that she could get them delivered but insisted that Emma paid for them – after all the good deed was her idea.

“Why don’t you magic up the parts?”

“One: This is your present to Red. Granny would never accept something from me. Two: I’m not wasting my magic ever time you want something, I have much better uses for it. Three: There is no way to know the exact measurements/dimensions of the object. This catalogue is obscure and clearly out of date.”

“Fine, fine! We’ll order them and fit them when they arrive.”

She couldn’t believe Regina spoke as though she were still reciting the instructions from the dishwasher manual. It was as though the other woman considered her a child. Of course she was technically her mothers step-mother and had been alive more than double her own lifetime.

“Until then you’re stuck with the washing up.” Regina interrupted her thoughts.

“At least you’re letting me leave it to drip dry. Granny would probably have a fit if she knew.”

“Well it can leave streaks on the cutlery, but I guess if you’re not fussy…”

“You have to admit everything is clean and fully rinsed when I wash it. But you’re right. She should never have to know.”

Regina began packing up the tools. “Now, about my part of this bargain…”

“Give me half an hour. I’ll let you know when you can come over.”

“Do you want some lunch first?”

“I’ll grab a few things to take with me and eat on the way.”

 

# Chapter 13.

 

Back at the apartment, Emma dragged her parents into their room. They were surprisingly light now that they weren’t moving, though she had to hold them under their armpits and let their feet drag across the floor. She laid them on the bed, side by side and raised the barrier so that it only encompassed their room. Then she lowered the barrier around the rest of the apartment and went to find Regina.

“As promised, one visit with Henry. I’ll wait outside to give you some privacy.”

“Thank you, I will also erect a sound barrier of my own so that I can be sure you won’t eavesdrop.” Regina walked into the room. “Don’t you think you should have laid him back down and removed the torch and book by now?”

“Don’t you think that will scare him when he wakes up? One second he’s reading and the next he’s lying down?”

“Whatever. You can go now.”

Emma shook her head and left. When she was sure they were alone, Regina put up a magical soundproof barrier around the room and looked down at her son.

~~

Regina lost track of time as she talked to Henry. She knew he couldn’t hear her, but she pretended he could and imagined how he would react to her words. She told him how she felt about the way he rejected her and went looking for Emma. That she’d been thinking about how easy it would be to take Hooks ship and sail them away as soon as the curse breaks. She apologises to him for letting him be caught up in the curse, assuring him that it was all an accident and telling him how much she misses him.

In her mind there’s a list of things she wants to say but can’t. So she sticks to the simple things like what she’s been doing and how she has been spending time with Emma.

“I never allowed myself to notice it before, but you’re a lot alike. Sometimes it’s the things she’ll say or the way she acts, it reminds me of you.”

She cries as she talks about her mother and what Snow White has done. “I doubt that’ll be a page you’ll add to your story book.”

When Emma comes to knock on the door and tell her its time to go, she kisses Henry on the forehead and takes out the small pocket mirror from her bag. She has to check her make-up before she opens the door; she can’t let Emma see that she has been crying. As she goes to put the mirror back in her bag, she imagines that she sees a face reflected back which is not her own. Putting it down to bleary eyes from her tears she closes it and drops it into her handbag.

The clasp doesn’t quite close properly and from the mirror she hears a voice. It tells her that taking Hook’s ship is a good idea and offers her advice on dealing with him when the curse breaks to help her sail away. Regina reaches back into her bag and grabs the mirror, closing her first tightly around it until it clicks shut. The voice stops.

When she opens the door, she rushes out past Emma. She calls back her thanks over her shoulder and with her voice shaking reminds her to select some vegetables from the grocery store for dinner.

Emma quickly checks on Henry, but cannot see anything wrong. She puts Regina’s exit down to her emotions and not wanting to be seen crying, then spends a few moments of her own with her son.

# Chapter 14.

 

Regina didn’t stop running until she had reached her car. Then she drove as fast as the speed limit allowed to the edge of the town, screeching to a halt at the border.

She stepped out of the car, took the compact mirror from her handbag and hurled it towards the invisible town line. The mirror bounced off the invisible force field, whether due to the curse or its own magical properties, she wasn’t sure.

The force of the impact as it hit the ground caused the case to split open. Regina was tempted to just leave it there, but she knew that it would be dangerous. When the rest of the town woke up, anyone could find it. In the end she walked over to it, scooping it up with only the tips of her fingers. She knew that she couldn’t risk using magic to pick it up.

She could hear the voice. It was talking calmly to her in a slow, soothing tone.

Regina opened the mirror. The face stared back at her, suddenly silent. Expectant. Waiting. Regina pressed her lips tightly together, refusing to speak.

“Temper tantrum over, dear?” It asked.

“Whatever magic created you, I don’t care. I don’t need your advice and I don’t appreciate your turning up in my handbag.”

The pale blue face shimmered and was replaced with one a little more familiar. “I thought you might run from me again, so I wanted to give you a present that could help advise you when you needed me the most.”

“Mother!”

“Who else loves you enough to keep a promise to never leave you?”

“I don’t understand, what….”

“This mirror was a gift to me from your grandfather the day you were born. I got the idea from your little friend, the one who wished to never leave your side and trapped himself in the mirrors. Of course, I am not the most recent version of mother you may have met, but I am her thoughts and memories up to the point she created the spell. I know everything about you Regina and I am here to help you.”

“I don’t need your help. My mother only made my life worse.”

“Who brought your first horse? Who ensured that you had only the best tutors?”

“You also killed my True Love, used your magic against me and forced me to marry someone I could never love.”

“A stable boy could never be the True Love of a Queen. I saved you the heartache of losing him to another woman. I may have acted harshly when you were younger but that was only because I knew you could do better and I was right. The King chose to marry you and finally had a chance for greater power than my magic could give me.”

“Well you were wrong. My life has been a nightmare. Even this stupid town, which was supposed to make me happy has failed. I’m just not meant to have anyone really love me.”

“What about Henry? He’s your son. He loves you.”

“How can I compare to his birth mother? She’s the daughter of true love. She broke the curse and now I’m left with _nothing_.”

Cora’s image smiled back at her. “You always preferred spending time alone, but this spell you cast is much better than old Rumple’s curse. It’s a shame that girl wasn’t affected or you would be completely free from distractions. Never mind, together we can think of a way to give you the life you deserve.”

“You never understood me.” Regina told her. “I never wanted to be alone, only to be away from you. I was never good enough for you because you removed your heart, but my _mother_ loved me. I don’t need this Cora, I want the one you would have been with your heart.”

“Of course I understand you. We’re too alike, choosing magic over our hearts, but I want to help you. Together we can get your son back for you. It’s your choice Regina.”

“I need time to think.”

Regina closed the mirror gently this time and returned to her car. She knew she mustn’t listen to her mother… to the mirror. It was just an enchantment cast by the woman who had killed Daniel. She refused to think of her mother as that woman. Cora used dark magic to hurt her. Her mother loved her. They were two separate people and the mirror was just another part of Cora’s darkness.

Her heart still longed to be happy. She put the mirror in her handbag and drove back into town.

 

# Chapter 15.

 

“You seem a little distracted today.” Emma commented as she finished painting a section of the library wall.

Regina had been setting up the library computers for Belle. The young woman still had no idea how computers worked but this would allow some of the other residents to order in other books from outside the town. Regina had finished ten minutes ago and had been staring at the cover of a book on the librarians desk, lost in thought.

It was just a children’s book. Something about a picnic with large cartoon bears. It reminded her of the annual Miners Day Festival. She’d allowed the town to hold it throughout the curse because the idea made Henry so excited. No-one seemed to care that she was stuck in her office with boring paperwork while they were outside having fun. Even Graham hadn’t come by to see her, though he was usually busy on duty as Sheriff keeping an eye on those drinking too much. The laughter always filtered through her window, and it was too hot to contemplate closing it. That was her life though, always being shut out, watching other people enjoy their lives.

“Are you okay Regina?”

She was startled to find Emma standing in front of her. She was sure the other woman had just been over the other side of the room a second ago.

“Yes. I’ve finished setting everything up. I’ve let the instruction manuals for Belle to read, I think she’d prefer that rather than having me come and explain things to her.”

“If she can see past Mr Gold’s bad deeds I’m sure she can see past yours.”

“Perhaps, but I don’t have the time or the patience to try and teach her to use them.”

“So, today was a day for one of your projects, tomorrow’s back to mine. I’ve been thinking…”

“I know I’m going to regret asking but what did you have in mind?”

Regina let her mind wander as Emma spoke. She still hadn’t mentioned the enchanted mirror and she didn’t want to. They had an agreement for her to visit Henry and she didn’t want to ruin it. So she nodded, agreed with whatever the Sheriff wanted to do and really tried to concentrate as she expanded on her plans.

“Wait a minute, you want to what?”

“It’s not that big a deal.”

“Miss Swan…”

“Seriously, we’re alone. No-one can hear you. Please just call me Emma like a normal person.”

“Using your first name implies a familiarity we do not have and clearly do not wish to have. When this curse breaks…”

“When the curse breaks you can go back to calling me that. For now, Emma is much quicker. You already yelled it at me when I was changing the light bulbs on the ladder so I know you can say it.”

“It’s these types of conversations which make the curse feel longer than it is. I think I was better off when the whole town was under the old curse.”

“Careful, or I’ll start to think that you don’t like me.”

“I doubt I’ll be sending you a Christmas card, but I already have enough enemies in this town and for Henry’s sake I’m trying to get along with you.”

“Gee, thanks. That makes me feel so much better.”

 

# Chapter 16.

 

Regina waited until she was alone again in her room before taking the mirror out to look at it. She traced the silver pattern with her thumb, her mind battling over the decision of whether or not to open it.

Having her mother talk to her from the mirror was so different from when Sydney followed her around. She knew he would tell her the truth, and he would always try to help her and do what was genuinely best for her according to his heart. Her mother on the other hand… Regina bit gently down on her bottom lip, trying to focus.

If she opened the mirror she would be giving in Cora when all she really wanted was her mother. She wasn’t ready to face her, she knew that, but she was lonely.

Regina closed her eyes and pushed the catch on the mirror, but didn’t open it. Then she pressed it shut it again. She repeated this seven times, relieved when her mothers voice didn’t call out to her. As it shut for the final time she opened her eyes and smiled. She could do this. She could open the mirror, talk to Cora and shut it again when she wanted to.

But not tonight.

~~

Emma sat in her car outside Regina’s house. There had been something wrong with her today, and until she knew what it was, Emma would worry about it. She wasn’t sure what to expect. During the last couple of stakeouts, never in the same place of course, Regina had never varied from her routine and had remained in her house as soon as darkness fell. Emma just couldn’t believe that she wasn’t planning some way to get revenge on Mary Margaret. Of course, Regina could have been teleporting around town in her cloud of purple smoke while she sat out here, but there was usually a shadow cast against the window as she sat in a room doing whatever it was she did when she was on her own.

“Am I just wasting my time?” Emma asked herself, looking in the rear-view mirror.

Even as she said it the self-doubt set in. Regina had spent a lifetime hating Snow White and had done so many things to try and make her pay for the pain she had caused her. Now she had hurt her second time and Regina had mysteriously created this new curse. Even if she didn’t mean to harm Henry, Regina would still want revenge for her mother’s death. That meant she had to sit out here and try to figure out Regina’s next plan.

 

# Chapter 17.

 

Regina passed the new part for the dishwasher across the table to Emma as she ate breakfast.

“I forgot, this finally arrived.”

It was still in the wrapping it had been delivered in, postal markings and address included.

“Perfect timing. Now we can fix it. Did you bring your tools?”

Regina pushed the scrambled eggs around her plate, not bothering to look up. “They’re in the kitchen.”

“Great. Once we fit the part we can test it out on the breakfast dishes.”

“The instructions are in the toolbox. I don’t think you’ll need my help, it should be simple enough.”

“Don’t you want to see if it works?”

Regina gave up on her remaining breakfast, not feeling hungry this morning. “I’ll see it at lunchtime.”

“Aren’t you going to stay and make sure I follow the instructions properly?”

“I think it was a mistake to try and spend time together Miss Swan. I don’t mind cooking your meals, after all the curse is my fault and I can’t have you starving to death for Henry’s sake, but I would prefer some time alone to think.”

“But you spend all your time alone! As soon as you finish dinner until you meet me here for breakfast you’re on your own.”

Regina didn’t react. She wanted to talk to Emma, to tell her how she was feeling She wanted to say: _“I’m tired. There’s so much to do and I know that even if I do everything I want to, it can all be taken away. I’m not used to feeling like this, wanting to give up and go hide in a dark place where no-one can find me.”_ She knew if she did she would hate herself for it later. Eventually she would feel stronger again and sharing this moment of weakness with someone else, especially the person who was taking away her son and was the daughter of the woman who continually set out to ruin her life, could not happen. So she spoke different words, hoping to be let off her previous promises to help.

“I am the Evil Queen. I’m meant to be alone.”

The words tumbled off her lips more easily that she liked and she quickly stood up and walked out of the diner before Emma could reply.

~~

It was the first time Emma had heard Regina refer to herself as the Evil Queen. She sat at the table in stunned silence as she replayed the words and recalled the way Regina had been acting. Something didn’t feel right. She had learnt to trust her instincts and she knew when someone was lying. Regina had meant the words she said, because at that moment she had believed them, but they were the words of someone who had given up. The old Regina would have insulted her, perhaps told her she was acting like a child needing someone to hold her hand and help her fix the dishwasher. This Regina was letting her see a vulnerable side, saying the words but not wanting them to be true.

Emma grabbed her coat, leaving the package on the table. The washing up could wait. She needed to follow Regina and make sure she wasn’t going to go after Mary Margaret. 

 

# Chapter 18.

 

Regina placed fresh flowers on her parents graves. Even though the other ones wouldn’t begin to die until time re-started the action comforted her. Once again she pictured them standing in front of her, blocking out the headstones declaring them gone.

“I don’t want to open the mirror. I don’t want to listen to Cora, but I don’t think I’m strong enough not to give in. Why does everything I touch go wrong?”

Her parents didn’t answer her. They couldn’t advise her when deep down she was still conflicted. If they told her she could ignore the mirror she wouldn’t believe them, if they told her to open it they wouldn’t be the parents she needed and wanted to see before her. They could only tell her they loved her, and even that she struggled to believe.

So she took the easy way out. She imagined that her father was telling her the story of the first time she rode a horse on her own, without anyone there to hold the reins for her. Then she let him tell her another story, then another. Eventually she let herself smile.

“Thank you.” She told him.

When she allowed her parents to disappear, she kissed her fingers to her lips and placed them on each of the headstones in turn.

As she walked back to her car, she frowned. Emma’s yellow beetle was parked a few feet away, which meant that she had followed her here. Anger stiffened her spine and snapped her head up as she stormed over.

“What do you think you are doing?”

Emma had begun to doze off in her car, tired from her late night stakeout. She hadn’t seen Regina walking towards her and was startled awake when the other woman tapped against the half-open window.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I thought you would be over this by now. Stalking is a crime and you said you wanted to fix the dishwasher.”

“Look, I just wanted to check up on you, to make sure that you were all right…”

“I’m not a child. I don’t need you look out for me.”

“Then talk to me and tell me what’s wrong. Let me know what’s on your mind and I can try and help you.”

“I’ve managed fine for twenty-eight years. You, on the other hand…” Regina stopped herself from finishing the sentence and took a moment to choose her next words more carefully. “I understand that you might be concerned. Clearly I’m nowhere near your dear mother, so you can’t be worried that I’m going to attack her, but we are the only two people in the town at present. If something happens you need to be able to contact me. Well I have an idea. Henry has a pair of walkie-talkies. If you can find them I will cast a spell to enable them to work despite the curse. That way you can give me some space and still contact me when you have a problem.”

Emma nodded. “I know where they are. If you follow me back home, you can do that now.”

~~

The bubbles floated on top of the bathwater, hypnotising her with the little rainbows shining on the surface from the reflected candlelight. There was no music playing in the background, sometimes the silence felt like the comforting presence of an old friend allowing her mind to relax and empty all her thoughts.

Regina stretched out her hand to warm the cooling water, bringing it back to a more soothing temperature. It was a small bit of magic and didn’t take much effort.

There was a crackling noise as the yellow and black piece of plastic came to life, hidden between the layers of her clothes at the edge of the bathroom. She had forgotten it was in her pocket when she drew the bath, if she had found it before she removed her clothes she might have left it in another room.

Emma’s voice invaded the silence, testing the connection.

“Hello, can you hear me? Hi Regina, I’m just checking that this is working. I figure I should just keep talking until you answer and full sentences are less annoying than saying ‘are you there - over’ a dozen times. So I’m just calling to make sure the spell works and…”

Regina quickly used her magic to allow her to answer it before the voice became even more annoying. “Miss Swan, I am in the middle of something and I thought we agreed these devices should only be used in emergencies or to let the other person know if we are going to be late in meeting up. Unless you have impaled yourself after crashing your car into another town sign, and need medical attention, I suggest you make a list of all the things you want to tell me. Then, in the morning, you can read your list and cross off the ones you think will annoy me the most. If any still seem important you can bring them to breakfast and I will listen to them then. Agreed?”

“Um, yes. Sorry.”

Regina waved her hand and cut the connection. She sunk a little lower into the bath and closed her eyes.

 

# Chapter 19.

 

She took a deep breath as she entered the diner. She wanted to apologise straightaway to Emma, before she could say or do anything to change her mind. She didn’t know why she acted the way she did sometimes. The one time Archie had tried to talk to her about it she had spoken harshly and ignored him for a whole week. She couldn’t believe that her actions were down to depression. They only lasted a short while before she pulled herself together and acted like the Queen she was meant to be.

Her conscience had woken her early though, so she would have to wait a long time before Emma would arrive. That was okay; she had plenty to keep her occupied.

~~

Emma wandered into the diner, not really surprised when she couldn’t smell Regina cooking breakfast. Clearly she was still upset with her from the day before. That was okay, Granny was bound to have cereal or some bread she could toast for breakfast. When Regina arrived she would apologise for stalking her and calling her so late. She didn’t know what she had been thinking acting that way yesterday. As she pushed open the kitchen door she nearly tripped over a spanner lying on the ground.

She gazed over at the pair of legs sticking out from the dishwasher, her mouth open in astonishment.

“Regina?”

There was a dull thud from that direction and a word she had never thought the mayor would know, let alone use, which escaped.

Regina crawled out from inside the dishwasher, nursing her bumped head.

“Really Miss Swan, was that necessary?”

“What are you doing?”

“I always told Henry he should keep his promises. I promised to help you fix the dishwasher and when I arrived this morning I found the part still sitting on the table.”

“Is it fixed?”

Regina frowned. “No. I can’t get the part in place and I’m reluctant to use magic on technology. It can have unpredictable consequences.”

Emma rolled up her sleeves. “Maybe I should try.”

“Be my guest.” Regina held out the part.

As Emma ducked inside the dishwasher, Regina took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry.”

“What?”

“I’m sure you heard me.” Regina said, hating to repeat herself.

“My head is in a dishwasher, you need to speak up.”

“I said I’m sorry. That’s it. I’m not saying it again.”

Emma re-appeared, smiling. “I heard you. I’m sorry too.”

Before Regina could react she returned to work. Regina inspected her hands, they needed cleaning. Luckily she had planned ahead and saved some water in a jug by the sink.

“I’ll get breakfast started.” She told Emma. “I’ll call you when it’s ready.”

She had also filled a pan with water before she switched the mains supply off. As she waited for the eggs boil she went to lay cutlery out on a table in the diner. She took a minute to sit down. Regina smiled. It hadn’t been as hard to apologise as she had feared and Emma seemed to have forgiven her.

There was a yell from the kitchen and she hastened back to see what was wrong. Emma was nursing her left hand and a small amount of blood had begun to drip down her wrist.

“Were you born this accident prone, Miss Swan?” She asked as she reached for the first aid kit Granny kept on the wall.

“It’s that stupid dishwasher.” Emma grumbled.

“Yes, blame the non-sentient appliance, that will help.”

“What are you doing?”

Regina held out a bandage. “Trying to help. It’s either this or going to the hospital.”

Emma held out her hand. “At least I got the part in.”

“Good. We can switch it back on after breakfast.”

“If it doesn’t work I give up.”

“That’s not an attitude I want passed on to my son. There, all finished.” Regina helped Emma to stand up as she spoke.

Emma glared back down at the dishwasher. “That thing’s just evil.”

Surprising Emma as well as herself, Regina laughed.

 

# Chapter 20.

 

Emma finished washing her hands, having switched the water back on. As she walked back into the diner, she accidentally knocked Regina’s handbag onto the floor, spilling the contents everywhere. She chased after the items, having to get down on the floor to reach under the booths for some of them and wondering how it was possible for someone to need to carry quite so many items around with them.

A small silver object glittered under one of the seats. Emma picked it up and studied the strange design. It must be an antique, she told herself. Either Regina had brought it with her from the fairy tale land or perhaps she had found it in Mr Gold’s shop. Knowing Regina there was a third option – she could have just conjured it up with her magic. Emma ran her fingers across the clasp and the mirror popped open just as Regina entered with lunch.

Two plates smashed to the ground as she saw what Emma held in her hands. She felt as though time slowed down as Emma turned towards her and she waited for her mothers voice to cut across the room.

“And you call me clumsy. What happened?” Emma asked, snapping the mirror shut.

Regina realised that she hadn’t noticed anything strange about the mirror and breathed a sigh of relief.

“What were you doing in my handbag, Miss Swan?”

“Oh, yes. Sorry.” Emma looked up sheepishly. “I knocked your bag off the table. I think I found everything that fell out though.”

“Why don’t you double check and I’ll go and cook a new breakfast. Luckily I just stocked up the fridge with extra supplies.”

Emma smiled at her. “Now that the water’s back on, you might want to take a look in the mirror. You have some…” She paused and waved towards Regina’s face. “Smudges?”

Mortified that she might be right, Regina rushed into the ladies toilet to check. She frowned as she searched for the offending smudges, but other than a small fleck of something on the tip of her nose and her slightly flattened hair she couldn’t see anything wrong. Clearly the Sheriff enjoyed making a fool out of her. Well, two could play at that game. At least she had magic on her side.

~~

Regina calmly tucked into the breakfast. “How is your hand?”

“I’ll live.” Emma told her, moving the fingers as if to check that they were all there.

“If you notice any problems with it call me and we can see if there is anything at the hospital that could help.”

“It’s just a cut.”

“Cuts can get infected. Try to keep it clean and dry.”

“Hey, that means no more washing up right?” Emma’s eyes lit up as she reached for the ketchup.

“Hopefully, now the dishwasher is fixed, that is one less thing to worry about.”

“So,” Emma turned the bottle upside down and tapped it as she waited for the red sauce to fall out. “I finally spent some time making a list of things I want to get done while everyone’s been re-cursed.”

“Really?” Regina raised her eyebrows and tried not to smile as the ketchup remained in the bottle.

“Yeah.” Emma frowned, distracted with trying to shake the bottle even harder. “Can’t understand it, there’s plenty in there.”

Regina picked up her glass of water and tried to turn a burst of laughter threatening to bubble up in her throat into a cough. Emma placed one hand on the base of the ketchup bottle and drew the other one back, giving it a resounding whack just as Regina released her spell.

Ketchup covered the table, the wall and most importantly in Regina’s view, Emma. She allowed herself to laugh as she looked at the mess. Emma glared at her through red blobs covering her eyebrows and began wiping at her nose.

“Seriously?”

“You… Sheriff, you have some… smudges!” Regina pointed at her in full out laughter and wondered how Emma would react if she used the camera on her phone to take a picture.

“Really mature, Regina.” Emma told her, reaching for the tissues in the silver box on the table. “Use magic on defenceless innocents.”

“I’m sorry.” But she wasn’t, she couldn’t stop laughing, though it was quieting to mere giggles now.

Emma picked up her spoon and scooped up some of the sauce, aiming it at Regina. She didn’t flick it though.

“Truce?” Regina asked, finally gaining control in the face of danger.

“If you get rid of the mess, including the damage to my clothes, then truce.” She agreed.

All traces of the ketchup vanished in an instant.

 

# Chapter 21.

 

They had been trapped in the cursed town for one month. Regina placed the two plates on the table and sat down opposite Emma, wondering whether she should mention it.

“So we’ve had five days of non-stop work, I think its time for a holiday.” Emma told her.

“Does that mean no calls on the walkie talkies?” She asked.

“I was thinking about spending the day shopping for Henry’s birthday present.”

“Please try to make it something he needs. He is only a child and you need to think carefully before buying anything.”

“It’s not like I’m planning to buy him a motorbike or a real gun to play with. But I’m not going to buy him something boring like pens for school or new clothes, either. Ugh! Everyone hates those presents.”

“I’m relieved about the motorbike and gun part. What about books?”

Emma grinned. “Like the original fairy tales?”

Regina refused to react to the suggestion. “Something more suitable for his reading age. Henry is a very bright boy, but his schoolwork has begun to slip recently and I think expanding his horizons might not be a bad idea.”

“Would a foreign holiday count as expanding his horizons?”

“Clearly you don’t want my advice. I have only been buying Henry’s presents for the last decade so what would I know? I’m sure you’ve got the birthday party all planned as well? Invited his school friends, brought the ingredients for the food and cake… Sorry, asked Snow White or Granny to bake the cake, and you’ll probably be buying the decorations while you’re shopping for the present. You do know that there are another three birthdays for children in Henry’s class before his birthday? Now that he’s living with you, you’ll be responsible for buying those children birthday presents as well. I’m sure your mother can warn you which children have allergies so that you can make alternative arrangements for their food. I took Henry to a party once and two of the children had a nasty reaction. There weren’t any nuts directly in the food but the label had clear warnings that the factory used nuts in its other products. The children had to be taken to hospital.”

Emma stared at Regina with her mouth open. She had never really gone to birthday parties as a child. Early on parents would invite most of the class to their children’s parties, but she could never invite anyone back to the care homes for her birthday. If her foster parents cared when her birthday was it was only to ensure that they could still get money for looking after her.

“I suppose you made Henry’s birthday cakes yourself?”

“Of course. The amount of sugar in store-bought cakes can have children climbing the walls after the first bite and that way I always knew there wouldn’t be any medical emergencies.”

“I suppose I could ask Granny to teach me to make the cake. Henry can help me pick out the presents for the other kids.”

“I’m sure your mother would be delighted to help you with the rest of the preparations.” Regina finished her breakfast and picked up her handbag, headed to the front door. “Enjoy your shopping trip, Miss Swan.”

“Regina?”

“Yes?”

Emma turned around in her seat as she gathered the courage to ask for help. “You know what Henry likes, better than I do. Do you want to help me find a present for him?”

“Wouldn’t you rather go shopping with your mother?”

“She’s still frozen, and so is Henry. It’s the perfect time, he can’t suspect anything so it’ll be a real surprise. Come on. I’ll invite you to the party.”

“The Evil Queen at a children’s birthday party? Your parents would try and sent you to speak to Archie. None of the other parents would let their children come.”

“You’ve been going to the birthday parties all these years.”

“As the Mayor and Henry’s mother. Now they remember who I am.”

“Henry will want you there.”

“How about a different deal? I get to see him on his birthday, to give him a present, before the party or after it’s your choice. Are you going to hold it at lunchtime or later in the afternoon?”

“I’ve gotten as far as thinking about buying him a present. I have no idea what I’m doing. Will you help me?”

Regina smiled. “Of course. For Henry.”

She would help Emma pick out a sensible present. Something Henry would like, but the sort of present she might have brought for him. This year she could buy him something different. When Emma wasn’t around.

A drum kit, perhaps?

 

# Chapter 22.

 

Regina knocked on Emma’s front door and shifted her weight as she tried to hold the large cardboard box in her other hand. After waiting a few minutes, she put the box on the ground and knocked again. Eventually she took the walkie-talkie out of her handbag and tried to contact Emma.

“I’ll be right there.” Emma told her.

Another three minutes passed before the door opened. Regina raised an eyebrow when she saw what Emma was wearing.

“I was taking shower and had to reset the spell around my parents room.” She explained, re-tightening the towel around her body. “I knew you’d be getting impatient so I figured I’d let you in before getting dressed. What’s in the box?”

“The box can wait. Go and get dressed first.”

“Sure. Do you wanna see Henry while you wait?”

Of course she did. Emma didn’t bother to wait for an answer as she headed to her room. This time Regina didn’t put a shield up as she stood by Henry’s bed. She knew she wouldn’t have long and now was not the time for any private chatter. Instead, she told him about Emma fixing the dishwasher in the diner, how they had sorted out the library and the incident with the ketchup. By the time she had finished Emma was calling her, asking about the box again.

~~

Regina opened the box and handed Emma the contents. “This is every decoration I brought for Henry’s birthday parties. Some are for the garden, others for inside the house. Typically for this time of year we never knew if it was going to rain so I liked to be prepared.”

“Regina these look brand new. How did you even get them back in the original boxes?”

“I like to take care of the things I buy. You won’t need all of the decorations, that would just look tacky, but I thought I should give you a choice of which ones to use. Birthdays can be so expensive it doesn’t make sense for you to have to buy more than you have to.”

“This is great Regina. I’m sure we’ve got some sellotape or pins somewhere.”

“Blue tac also works, in case Mary Margaret doesn’t want little holes in the walls. The heavier banners won’t stay up for very long with sellotape either.”

“At least I’ve got plenty of time to practice putting them up.” Emma joked. “Why am I not surprised this is so well organised?”

“Have you thought about what you’re going to do for his birthday?”

“Is he too old for jelly and ice cream? What about party games? Do kids still play pass the parcel and pin the tail on the donkey?”

“Perhaps take him and a small group of friends bowling or to the cinema, or have pizzas and a sleepover? I’m sure Henry will tell you what he wants and you’ll have a budget to work with. The decorations are a nice surprise when he wakes up and comes in here for breakfast.”

“You even have balloons and an air pump?”

“The balloons are leftover. The air pump is just common sense. Even with Graham’s help…”

“Well I’m sure Mary Margaret and David will offer to help.”

Regina took a deep breath. “I also have photos. Of Henry’s birthday parties. If you ever want to see them.”

“I’d like that. I missed… everything, from his childhood. Mary Margaret found me copies of the school photos in his records, but it’s not the same. Family photos have memories; they tell you everything about where you’ve been and what you’ve done. I never had any of that growing up.”

“I hope you’ve brought yourself a camera so that you start taking photos.”

“I’m saving up. Mary Margaret’s letting me use hers and the one on my mobile isn’t too bad.”

“Don’t leave it too long. Children have a habit of growing up too quickly, before you know it you may have lost your chance.”

Emma quickly changed the subject, seeing how upset Regina became. “So I wanted to do something nice for Archie next. Any ideas?”

“Just because I spent twenty eight years with the same people, it doesn’t mean I took the time to get to know them.”

“But you must have spent time with him, talking about Henry’s sessions at least.”

“The man used to be a cricket, before that he was a man. He now has a pet dog.”

“So helpful.”

“What is this obsession? Why do you have to do anything nice for anyone?”

“I told you, I was getting bored.”

“At least the dishwasher was practical, everyone goes to the diner.”

“So you won’t help again?”

“I refuse to ruin my reputation by thinking of _nice_ things to do for people I don’t like. I only promised to help if _you_ thought of something.”

“Fine. I’ll let you know tomorrow.”

“After you’ve crossed something off my list, don’t forget.”

“I know.”

 

# Chapter 23.

 

“I think another holiday day is in order.” Emma said as she walked into Regina’s office.

“Fine, go and enjoy yourself. I have work to do.”

Emma walked around Regina’s desk to look at the computer screen, which Regina was concentrating on. “What are you doing?”

“Ordering in more supplies.”

“But you said the food won’t expire when it crosses the town lines.”

“And you have single-handedly managed to deplete the little junk food items I allow here.”

“Can I see how you do it?”

“I’m sure you would find it boring, Miss Swan.”

Emma ignored her, wandering back around the desk and sitting in the chair. “How did you trick their computers into thinking the town has the money to pay for the supplies?”

“Storybrook exports a large amount of seafood and other items, giving us a generous bank balance. Part of the curse allows it to hide from outside investigations, that way we don’t raise any questions with the government. Most of the items we stock are produced here. I try to have as little to do with the outside world as possible, to protect us.”

“Why not magic up the food now you’ve got your powers back.”

Regina waved her hand and a packet of crisps appeared in front of Emma on the desk. “Go ahead. Try one.”

Emma examined the packet carefully before opening it. She sniffed at the contents and gently took one out of the bag.

“Ugh!” Emma took one bite and threw the packet back on the table. “It tastes like raw potatoes.”

“When we arrived here I had brought gold from our land. I opened a bank account and used that to make all of the purchases before I realised how quickly the money disappeared. That’s why we export items. I don’t have the strength to spend all day and night magic-ing up food for an entire town and unless I know exactly what goes into making the food I cannot reproduce it. I only bring food in via magic from the outside when I can pay for it.”

“So you made me eat a raw potato to make a point?”

“I told you, I’m busy.”

“You must take holidays sometime.”

“I allow myself time off when Henry has a break from school. I spend the rest of the time working hard so that I can take that time off without the town falling apart.”

“Well the town is frozen and we’ve already fixed a load of stuff. Why don’t we go shopping and I can introduce you to some new colours?”

“Just one of my outfits probably costs more than your entire wardrobe.”

“Don’t count on it. My shoe collection has some classics.”

“Picked up in the sales?”

“And charity shops. A bargain is a bargain and some shoes are priceless.”

Regina shuddered. “Promise me you will never let Henry wear second-hand clothes.”

“Sometimes you’re too … I can’t even think of the word.” Emma told her. “So I won’t promise, because you need to chill.”

“I enjoy having fun Miss Swan,” Regina looked up over the computer monitor “but I doubt you would appreciate it.”

“Okay, that’s two Miss Swans, so I accept your challenge. You pick one fun thing for today and I’ll pick something for tomorrow. Then we have to _honestly_ say if we had fun.”

“And this can be anything?”

“If its something you think is fun. The point is to prove that it’s also something I’d agree is fun.”

“If it’s your idea shouldn’t you choose first?”

“Need some time to think of something?” Emma countered.

Regina stood up from behind her desk. “A few things come to mind.”

 

# Chapter 24.

 

Emma raised her hand to stop the large black helmet falling over her eyes.

“It’s too big.” She told Regina.

“And the other was too small. If you hold still I can use magic to shrink it for you.”

“As the Health and Safety Queen shouldn’t you be wearing a helmet?”

Regina ignored her and concentrated her magic through her hands, adjusting the helmet size. “That should do. Try moving your head to see if it fits properly.”

Emma tilted her head to either side then forward and back. The helmet stayed in place.

Regina walked into the stall behind her and began a spell to replicate one of the sleeping horses.

“It’s only going to be a little horse, right?” Emma called out to her.

“The horse has to be able to carry your weight and tall enough so that your feet don’t drag on the ground.” Regina waited until she was leading the horse out before replying.

She kept her tone calm and even, stroking its nose as they walked. The magical creature would behave exactly like a real horse, down to its reactions to instructions.

“Thunderbolt here is also very old and used to taking out learners.”

“So he won’t run off with me or try to throw me off?”

Regina laughed. “There’s no need to be scared.”

“He’s huge!”

“I forgot you didn’t grow up around animals. He’s about average size and I’ve ridden much larger horses. I will hold onto his reins and walk you around in a large circle outside so that you can get used to his movements.”

“How do I even get all the way up there?”

Regina pointed to the box at the side of the stables. “Stand on that and I’ll hold him steady.”

“Could you show me first?” Emma pleaded.

“Very well.”

She threaded the reins through a large silver ring on one of the wooden posts and climbed onto the box. It would have taken her two seconds to climb onto Thunderbolt but she wanted Emma to see exactly how she did it so she kept her movements slow and explained each step before getting back down.

Emma’s hands trembled as she finally sat on the horse. She held onto the saddle pommel as instructed by Regina and closed her eyes as they began walking out of the stable.

Regina kept up a light chatter as they went, correcting Emma’s posture and suggesting that she open her eyes. They walked inside the enclosed training area for nearly five whole circles before Emma spoke. She had gone rather pale and her knuckles stood out as she held on.

“I think that’s enough.”

“Not having fun?”

“I’m swaying from side to side and I’m not sure the saddle is secure… I feel like I’m going to fall off.”

“Well this isn’t what I would have called fun, but until you’ve learnt the basics we can’t take the horses out for a proper ride.”

“No way. I’m not going fast on one of these.”

“Have you ever ridden on a motorbike?”

“Yes, once or twice.”

“At what speed?”

“Within the limits.”

Regina choked back a laugh. “Alright, but this is really no different. Probably even safer. If you give it a little more time…”

“Maybe it was a bad idea. We can forget it if you want.”

“And go back to spending our free time having fun our own way?”

“Yes.” Emma grated her teeth together. “Just help me get down.”

Back inside the stable, Emma quickly sat down and removed her helmet. Her legs felt wobbly and she leant back against the wall. Regina whispered something to the horse and it faded away.

“Give me a few minutes and we can head back.” Emma told her.

“Why don’t you wait here. I still haven’t been for a ride yet and you said this should be like a holiday.”

Regina walked into a different stall, repeating the duplication spell and walking back out with a different horse. Her clothes altered with a wave of her hand, becoming more suitable for riding. She climbed onto its back gracefully, not bothering with a saddle and raced outside.

Emma forced herself to her feet and went to watch.

Regina looked so different when she was riding. Emma could scarcely believe her eyes. When she disappeared across the field, Emma felt a little disappointed. She pulled the box outside and sat down, waiting for Regina to return.

 

# Chapter 25.

 

It was nearly two hours before Regina came back. When she was riding she didn’t pay any attention to the time. She could have been gone just half an hour or all day for all she knew, but the magic was slowly draining her and she forced herself to release the horse and walk back. Regina quickly changed back into her normal clothes as she approached the stables, instantly feeling more comfortable and back in control.

Emma was sitting outside the stable, chin propped up on the back of her hand, fast asleep. Deciding not to wake her, Regina removed her jacket and began to clean out the stables. The smell was muted because of the curse, but she was used to it and didn’t really mind. She swept out the stalls, put in fresh straw for the bedding and topped up their water. Next she checked there was plenty of food in the storeroom and added some hay to the feeder. By the time she had finished she figured the Sheriff had napped for long enough and went to wake her.

“You’ve been gone ages.” Emma told her.

“Actually you’ve been sleeping while I have been working.” Regina pointed out the floor, which was now clear of straw.

“You’re supposed to be having fun.” Emma reminded her.

“It would be irresponsible to leave the stables in a mess, even if we didn’t ride any of the real horses. Animals need us to take care of them.”

“It’s like I’m seeing a whole new Regina today. The way you rode the horse, the way you’ve cleaned up the place… you don’t seem to mind that you’ve ruined your _expensive_ clothes.”

Emma reached out to pull a stray piece of straw from Regina’s hair. As she looked down, Regina realised she was right. She had forgotten how messy cleaning out the stables could be. Her mother had refused to let her do it after she ruined one of her nicer dresses. To be fair she knew she should have changed clothes first, but she had been so angry about something when she returned home that she just started tidying up the stables to take her mind off it. Before she could go into the house and change clothes her mother had found her. Cora had threatened to turn the stables to dust if she ever found her doing servants work in the stables again. She was allowed to feed the horses and brush them, if she wore old clothes or an apron to protect her clothes, because that was part of caring for the animals. Cleaning the stables out though, that was not something a princess, or future queen, could be allowed to do.

"I'll have to dry clean it. I'm too tired to use any more magic."

“I’m surprised you aren’t going to throw it away and magic yourself something new later on.”

“They’re just clothes Miss Swan.”

Emma raised an eyebrow. “Wow, you seem more relaxed.”

“I told you, horse riding is fun.”

“So how does pizza for dinner sound?”

“Like glorified cheese on toast.”

“Come on, think of horses and stay in the fun-Regina zone.”

“I expect that you’ll want me to cook the pizza for you?”

“I could microwave some frozen ones.”

Regina rolled her eyes. “I’ll find a recipe and make a healthier version.”

“Thanks. I’ll head over to the store and pick out a dvd or something to watch.”

“Why?”

“I got on the towering beast from hell for at least an hour to try your fun thing. Now it’s your turn to try mine.”

“You lasted three seconds before screaming like an infant that it was too scary for you. Can’t the pizza be enough for tonight?”

“I think we’re running out of conversation over the food and there’s a chance it’ll stop being fun. If we’re watching a movie we don’t have to worry about our talking turning into an argument.”

“If I don’t like the film after the first twenty minutes I get to leave?”

Emma laughed. “It’s your house. After all, you’ve got the bigger tv.”

 

# Chapter 26.

 

They sat together on the sofa as Emma turned the pages of the photo albums. Regina had insisted on making her wash her hands after eating the pizza. Emma had refused to eat it with a knife and fork, the way Regina had done, so she had to comply. After all, she wanted to look at the photos without ruining them. Regina had carefully marked each photo with an extraordinary amount of details, and the different books were labelled as well.

“Would you mind… could I have copies of some of your photos of Henry growing up?” She asked, trying to store them in her memory in case Regina turned her down.

Regina’s first reaction was to say no. These were her photos, her memories. She had to share Henry with Emma now, but Henry’s past was hers.

It took her a moment to realise how ridiculous that sounded. And if she gave some photos to Emma, Henry would have them as a reminder of her.

“I’ll exchange some of these photos, or copies of them, for future photos of Henry.” She agreed.

“Can I take some now if I promise to give you some in the future?”

“I’ll make copies for you tomorrow.”

“Thanks.”

“That was the day he came second in the sports day race.” Regina explained, looking over her shoulder. “Personally I thought he won, but he didn’t care so I didn’t talk to the teachers about it.”

“He looks really happy.”

“I think he was more interested in getting a photo of the medal rather than having me include him in the picture.”

“Do you still have it?”

“Of course. Whenever he tired of having something in his room, needing space for new things he picked up, I stored the items in the attic. Just in case he wants them again some day.”

“In perfect condition, just like the birthday decorations?”

“I know you don’t understand Miss Swan, you managed to move here with less items than fit in a suitcase. To me, Henry’s memories are worth keeping safe. I left almost everything behind when I cursed us into this land. Things that were precious to me and reminded me of Da…happier times.”

“You cast the curse, why couldn’t you bring everything with you?”

Regina wanted to say: _“I chose to spend my final few moments gloating to your mother about how I had finally won, rather than packing.”_

She unconsciously reached up to touch the ring on the chain around her neck as she spoke. “Sometimes happy memories can also bring pain.”

Regina walked over to a cupboard and took out a pack of small post-it note tabs. They were supposed to help Henry make notes when he was studying. She handed them to Emma.

“Why don’t you finish looking through the alum and put one of these on the photos you want copies of while I wash up.”

“But you cooked.”

“You can owe me.” Regina paused in the doorway of the kitchen, then called back. “Plus I don’t trust you not to break something.”

Emma laughed and pulled off a handful of the tabs.

 

# Chapter 27.

 

It was 2am. She was not responsible for her actions.

Emma finished off the bottle of wine and stared at the picture her parents had put on the wall. She was starting to get a headache.

“When did they put that up?” She asked the empty room, staring at the happy smile on her and Henry’s faces. “I don’t even remember them taking the picture.”

She was really drunk. Somehow she had started drinking and forgotten to stop.

“It’s all Regina’s fault.” She told herself.

That wasn’t strictly true, but the alcohol seemed to justify the thoughts in her head. She picked up the walkie-talkie and pressed the button.

“Did you hear that, madam mayor? I said it’s all your fault.”

She laughed as she waited for a reply and reached for the glass. It moved about on the table until it hit the back of her hand and was knocked to the floor.

“That’s a lot of glass.” She said to herself, not realising her hand was still clasped around the walkie-talkie.

“Do you know what time it is?” Regina’s angry voice came over the static as she used her magic to allow Emma to hear her.

“Nope.”

“Go to sleep Miss Swan.”

“Can’t. Not tired.”

“How much have you been drinking?”

Emma blinked and tried to focus on the bottle. She must have blacked out for a little while because when everything came back into focus Regina was in the middle of talking to her.

“Unless you require medical attention, I have asked you not to use this form of communication at such unsociable hours.”

“That’s a lot of big words for someone feeling sleepy. What were you up to when I called?”

“ _I_ went to bed early.”

“Yeah right.”

“This is not a topic for debate. Now, are you injured?”

“Why?… Oh the glass thing. I knocked over a glass of wine and it smashed on the floor.”

“If you try and clean it up now you will only end up hurting yourself. Throw a tea towel over the top of it, go to bed and go to sleep.”

“I’m not a child. I can tidy up after myself.” Emma reached down to pick up one of the larger pieces of glass, jus to prove she could. “Ow! Dammit!”

“Emma?”

“What?”

“You ignored me didn’t you? How bad is it?”

“I’m _fine_. There’s blood but the fingers still attached, stop panicking.”

“Run it under a cold tap, in case there’s any small slivers in there it should wash it out. Do you know where your first aid kit is kept?”

“Mary Margaret usually just brings it to me. Woah…”

“What?”

“I stood up and the couch moved as I tried to walk away and I fell back down onto it.”

“Oh for goodness sake. Stay there, don’t move. I’m coming over.”

“No. I can manage.”

“Do you want me to explain to Henry when he wakes up, how you managed to get drunk and kill yourself all because you were so stubborn? It would make a good story to warn him on the dangers of alcohol…”

There was a pause, giving Emma time to think of a reply. “You drink that apple stuff.”

“Cider.”

“Whatever.”

The reply didn’t come over the walkie-talkie, as Emma found out when Regina lifted her hand to examine the wound.

“I think you’ll live. This time.” She told Emma.

“Told ya.” Emma tried to stand but Regina pressed gently on her shoulder to get her to sit down.

“I brought a first aid kit from home. You should find out where yours is, in case Henry needs it. Stay here, I’ll bring a bowl of water over and you can clean your hand in it.”

 

# Chapter 28.

 

Emma watched Regina walk into the kitchen area.

“Regina?”

“Yes?”

“You took time to find a first aid kit but didn’t get dressed?”

“I told you, I was sleeping. I’m wearing a dressing gown.”

Emma shrugged and closed her eyes. “Just saying.”

Regina replied from the kitchen area. “My priority was stopping you from bleeding to death from an unknown glass injury. I didn’t know how bad it was because you are clearly very drunk, and it’s not as though anyone else will come wandering in right now.”

Emma’s gaze flicked to the front door expectantly, then she sighed. It always worked in the movies. Annoyed, Regina used her magic to change into her normal clothes.

“Better?” She asked.

Emma just shrugged. After Regina had made her hold her finger in the water and poured more water over it with a small jug, she put a small bandage over it and started to clean up the glass.

“You can leave that. I’ll do it in the morning.” Emma told her.

“If I leave you with it while you’re drunk you’re likely to try cleaning it up now. I won’t take that chance, thank you.”

Once all the glass was gone – Regina ran the vacuum over it just to make sure – she also took away the bottle of wine. If she wasn’t so tired she might have tried using her magic. Unfortunately sleep-deprivation made it unpredictable.

“Do you want to stay for a drink?” Emma asked her.

Regina raised an eyebrow as she stared at her. “You need to sleep.”

“Come on, it’s no fun being drunk alone.”

“It’s no fun when you’re drunk and put your life in danger either.”

“Just one drink. Then I will go up to bed. I promise.”

“Maybe another night.”

“They still haven’t woken up.” Emma pointed towards her parent’s room. “Are they going to be okay?”

“My fr….Maleficent, in the other world, she managed to put a Princess to sleep for much longer.”

“How long?”

“Look, that doesn’t matter. I want everyone to wake up. Really. The sooner they wake up the sooner they can leave my town.”

“Then do something.”

“I told you…”

Regina paused as Emma stood up and watched as she tried to get her balance.

“Go home then.” Emma told her. “If that’s what you want.”

“We both need to get some sleep.”

“I’m not going to sleep yet. I’m going out. There’re people in the bar, even if they’re asleep and I need more wine.”

Regina wanted to tear at her hair in frustration. Was the woman completely insane?

“Fine. If you want to put yourself in a coma from too much alcohol, I’ll bring you some of my special cider.”

One thimbleful of that and Emma would be out like a light.

“Wait here.”

Emma just smiled at her, knowing she had won and wishing the room wasn’t beginning to spin. She had to keep it together until Regina came back. She wanted to get her drunk and make her tell the truth. Sober, she could lie too easily. Emma felt confident that if she could out-drink guys in a biker bar (okay, it was a small town bar and the guys were already over their limit) she could handle the ex-mayor and ex-queen. Cider was practically apple juice wasn’t it?

 

# Chapter 29.

 

Regina lifted her head from the desk and looked around. Her eyes were a little blurry so she rubbed at them gently, hoping to see where she was.

The Sheriff’s office?

For a moment she thought back to Graham and remembered staying late after her visits with him. As she yawned she tasted the remnants of cider on her breath and her eyes widened as she remembered sharing a bottle of cider with Emma. She straightened up and looked around, somewhat relieved that she was alone in the room. Taking cautious movements to stand up, she tried to gauge just how much cider she had drunk the night before.

It had to be the night before. She would have drunk less than one bottle of cider and that meant less than twelve hours of sleep. Unless she had picked up the wrong vintage. She did have a stash of slightly stronger cider…

No, she refused to contemplate that. She walked into the main section of the sheriff’s station and saw that Emma was asleep on one of the beds in the cells.

Regina allowed the image of slamming the door and locking it to pass through her mind for a second. _Just_ for a second, though. Any hangover she got would be all Emma’s fault after all.

As her brain caught up to her eyes, she began to stare, open-mouthed, at the view in front of her.

“Emma!” Her voice came out in a squeak, something it had _never_ done before.

She tried calling her again. Emma groaned and pulled the thin blanket over her head.

“I’m _sick_. Can’t go to work.”

Regina finally found her voice. “Emma Swan, wake up right this minute.”

Emma threw back the blanket and glared at her through squinting eyes. “What are you doing in my room?”

“I’m standing in the Sheriff’s department.” Regina explained.

“Oh, then I made it to work? I think I have to go home. Must have the flu or something.”

“I’m sure I wouldn’t have brought that excuse even if I didn’t witness how much you drank last night.”

“Fine, take it out of my holiday pay and leave me alone. I want to go back to sleep.”

“Something I tried to get you to do last night. I really don’t think you should drink anymore until your parents wake up and can take care of you in the aftermath.”

“Seriously. I can’t deal with you right now.”

Regina smiled. “Don’t you want to see what we did last night?”

“Too much alcohol. Don’t care.”

Regina laughed. “Oh, I think you will care about this. Very much so.”

Emma forced herself to sit up. “What?”

Regina just pointed to the wall behind her. “I’ll fetch us something for breakfast. You can start thinking about how to deal with that.”

Emma turned her head. “Oh, bother… Was that your idea or mine?”

“No idea. But think of it this way. It may be a new deterrent for Leroy’s little visits.”

“My eyes hurt just looking at it.”

“It might catch on. I can just see prisons up and down the country freshly decorated with bright pink flowery wallpaper.”

“Go get breakfast. We’ll take it back down.”

“Unless I used magic to put it there. That might take time.”

“Why is nothing simple in this town?”

Regina walked away, still laughing.

 

# Chapter 30.

 

Regina placed the paper bags containing breakfast down onto Emma’s desk. The strong smell of the coffee pulled her out of her doze on the cell bed.

“So, are we going to talk about why you got so drunk last night?” Regina asked her.

“You got drunk too. Or why else would you be here?”

“I had a little bit of cider and that combined with exhaustion meant I fell asleep once I knew you were safe. How is your hand this morning?”

Emma lifted both her hands to look at them. “What happened?”

“You tried picking up shattered pieces of glass even though I told you not to. You had no co-ordination.”

“Well I’m sure it will heal.”

“And until then you need to keep fresh bandages on it and make sure it doesn’t get infected. If it hurts you can get some painkillers from the pharmacy.”

“As Sheriff, shouldn’t I take those skeleton keys off you?” Emma sipped at the coffee.

“My keys and my town, Miss Swan. If you don’t want to tell me why you dank so much that you couldn’t stand up from the sofa, just promise me that it won’t happen again. At least until the town wakes up.”

“I couldn’t help it. All my life I’ve gotten used to being on my own, but now I have Henry, and _parents_ , and it’s strange not having them around. I miss them.”

“If I knew how to fix it, I would.” Regina admitted. “I’ve let go of most of my anger towards your mother. What she did still hurts, but it’s locked away with everything else and I’m ready to move on. Now, eat some breakfast while I take a look at the wall.”

“Do you think Leroy will like it more when he’s drunk or more when he’s hung over the next morning?”

“Don’t you want to take it down?”

“Not yet. It can go at the bottom of the to do list. I might keep it as a reminder that you can get drunk and have fun.”

“I think we already established that I know how to have fun. Your film on the other hand…”

“…Is a classic and totally brilliant. Unlike your horse riding idea.”

“So we disagree. What a surprise.”

“At least it wasn’t boring.” Emma added as an afterthought, as she finished her breakfast.

“Are you saying you want to take more holiday days and dare each other to try torturous new things?” Regina asked.

Emma shrugged. “Maybe. We can’t work all the time. We must have been here like this for months now.”

“Not quite. I have been keeping count.”

“Of course you have. So how many days do we have to work on the lists until we get a holiday again?”

Regina shook her head. “I have too much work to do.”

“Why don’t we relax the rules, no-one has to know. We could work one day and have fun the next.”

“Anarchy, Miss Swan.” But Regina smiled as she said it.

If that was the price she had to pay to avoid another drunken Emma scene, so be it. Like she said, no-one had to know.

“Great. Your turn for the first idea remember?”

“It will all depend on what you want us to cross off your list next.”

Emma took the piece of paper from her pocket, skimming down the list until she found something and circled it. “It’s perfect. We seemed to be in the decorating mood last night so we can follow it through today.”

Regina took the list from her hand and took a look for herself.

“Very well. I assume you know what you’re doing.”

 

# Chapter 31.

 

“But if we paint it white we can put black polka dots on it.” Emma told her.

“It’s a dog house.” Regina reminded her.

“And Pongo is a Dalmatian.”

Regina shook her head. At least Emma had finally agreed to buy the dog house and not try to make it herself. She really couldn’t imagine the trouble she would get into with the sharp tools.

“You’ll have to help me, the bandage around my fingers….”

Emma had put an old shirt on over her clothes and was trying to open the tub of paint with one hand.

“Dog houses aren’t supposed to go inside the house anyway.” Regina opened the paint and dipped her brush in.

“But Pongo spends so much time in Archie’s office I thought he might like his own private space.”

They began painting opposite sides of the doghouse, the paint somewhere in the middle.

“He could just leave the dog at home.”

“No! Having Pongo there helps his clients feel at ease. He couldn’t leave Pongo alone either.”

“It’s not far, he could easily go back at lunchtime to feed and walk him.”

“You just don’t get it.”

“Okay, we’ll paint it white. Hopefully the patients won’t think its like those ink blot tests.”

“We’ll wait until the first coat is dry then use something to make the dots all neat and circular.”

“Like a stencil?”

“If you know what I mean you don’t have to tell me the word.”

“If I knew what you meant I wouldn’t be asking.”

“Watch where you’re painting.” Emma cried as Regina began painting the roof. “This is my side.”

Regina waved her hand and the doghouse split right down the middle. “I’ll put it back together when we’ve finished. This way we don’t have to go near the wrong half.”

“Actually that’s a good idea. Now we can decorate the inside too. Do you think he’d like a picture of Archie inside?”

“We’re not in a cartoon. It will be too dark for him to see anything inside there anyway.”

“Maybe a picture of a bone?” Emma asked, just to be stubborn.

~~

Regina finished painting first. She tidied up her brushes, washing them carefully in the sink and magically removing any spots of paint from her appearance. She had noticed how Emma ignored any of her attempts at serious conversation, even when she tried to bring up Neal, and was still concerned about how much alcohol they had consumed the previous night. At least her memory was coming back in bits and pieces. She remembered arguing with Emma and getting the cider. Emma made her take the first drink to prove it wasn’t poisoned – _like she hadn’t had enough chances when cooking all their food_ – and asked Regina why she wouldn’t stay for another drink.

_“Stop being so damned defensive.” Emma told her._

_“I’m only worried that you break something else and need real medical attention. You’re the one who won’t tell me why she’s drinking so much.”_

_Emma sighed. “Looking at the photos, it made me realise how much of Henry’s childhood I’ve missed.”_

_Regina took another drink of the cider. “That’s no excuse. It’s harder for me losing him than for you gaining him. You’ve got the whole of his life ahead of you to share with him. I did everything I could and he’s leaving me.”_

_“But you were there for him for all those years and I wasn’t. I gave him away. I never expected to see him again.”_

_“Well we can’t change the past.” Regina reminded her, glancing at the bottle and wondering how they were still awake with half the bottle gone._

_“That cider’s great.” Emma complimented her. “I feel like I could do anything. Let’s do something wild.”_

_“That doesn’t sound like a good idea.”_

_“Then take a bigger gulp of cider and see if it changes your mind. Haven’t you ever wanted to do something completely crazy?”_

_Perhaps it was the effects of the cider already coursing through her bloodstream, but Regina had agreed._

 

# Chapter 32.

 

They had a fight. She couldn’t remember what it was about. They were tired and hungry and they’d yelled at each other. Emma had stormed out of the diner threatening to get junk food from the grocery store for dinner.

That evening Emma got drunk again and called Regina.

“I’m not coming over there.”

Emma picked up a glass, looked at it for a moment, then threw it again the wall. What would it take to get her to come over? She picked up a piece of glass by the unbroken edge and wondered if she was brave enough to let it cut into her skin.

“This is not funny Miss Swan.”

Emma spun around and quickly dropped the shard of glass. “You came.”

“You need to learn when the walkie-talkie is on.”

“I’m lonely.”

“We just spent all day together.”

“Yes but I’m in a house full of sleeping people and it’s making it worse.”

“Then go and stay somewhere else.”

“I have to wait for them to wake up.”

“What do you expect me to do about it?”

“Stay with me.”

“Here?”

“I’ll need some more invisible chalk soon.” Emma admitted to her. “But the barrier’s still strong. I trust you won’t try and force it to break.”

“No. You can sleep in one of my spare rooms.”

“I can’t, what if they wake up? I want to be here just in case.”

“And if they wake up and find me here? How do I explain that?”

“We’ll tell them about everything that happened.”

“Emma they’re not going to listen. They’re just going to hear that I was responsible for cursing them again…”

“Accidentally…”

“They won’t care about that part.”

“They’re good people.”

“Snow White ruined my life. Twice!”

“If you won’t talk to me about it, how do you expect me to understand?”

“You don’t need to understand.” Then she turned and teleported herself away.

~~

Regina hid in the crypt. It was the one place she knew Emma couldn’t get into. She was so angry her hands reached for the mirror without thinking and she quickly put it down on the table.

Why hadn’t Emma reacted when she opened it? Why hadn’t Cora started whispering to her? She paced up and down, staring as she passed the table she had placed it on.

“Stop being a coward Regina and just open it.” She muttered to herself.

Every time she came close to it something stopped her and she resumed her pacing. It was getting ridiculous; she was wasting so much time. Yet she didn’t leave the crypt or the mirror.

Emma had tried to contact her on the walkie-talkie. Regina had told her she was fine and that she was sorry, though she wasn’t sure if the argument had been her fault. At the end of the conversation she switched the walkie talkie off, telling herself that she could blame the batteries if Emma asked and tucked it back inside her bag.

Then she opened the mirror.

“How do I break this curse?” She asked Cora, not waiting for her to speak first.

Cora smiled as though she knew Regina would need her help. “Why would you want to do that? This is the perfect chance to get revenge on everyone.”

“Emma wasn’t affected. I can’t do this anymore. We’re driving each other crazy.”

“Then use your magic and put her to sleep as well.”

“I don’t even know how I put everyone else to sleep.”

“What about a _special_ apple turnover?”

“No, that would need Henry to wake her up and he’d never forgive me if I did that. I just need your help to wake everyone up. Can you help me or not?”

“Of course.”

“…Well?”

Cora laughed. “The spell won’t help you.”

“I’m asking you for this one thing…”

“You’re not ready to wake them up yet, darling.”

“Dammit mother, I’m a grown woman. It’s my choice.”

“Have you considered…”

Regina closed the mirror, stopping her mothers words mid-sentence.

 

# Chapter 33.

 

Emma usually came in to watch her cook, but carefully stayed out of the way as she moved around. She always seemed to be hovering when Regina wasn’t looking but when Regina asked her if she wanted to help she just reminded her of the egg disaster. Regina finally decided it was time to let Emma have a go.

“I want to teach you how to bake a birthday cake for Henry. And it’s time you learnt to cook decent meals to feed him.” She told Emma as she laid out the ingredients in the diner kitchen.

“What?”

“Don’t worry, I have back-up meals prepared in case they’re a disaster. We can microwave them if we need to.”

Regina had been cooking large meals and freezing the extra portions for just such an emergency.

“Any other reason?”

“Like what?”

“Well, not having to share meals with me.”

“No. I just think it would be nice if I didn’t have to cook all the time. It’s fine when it’s for Henry, but you’re a grown woman. Sure, it might mean we can skip sharing _all _ three meals together, but ultimately I’m thinking of Henry.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Don’t you want that?”

“Yes, of course.”

“I’ve been storing extra meals for a while now so even if you melt every saucepan Granny has we can microwave them.”

“Can we start with something simple?”

Regina smiled. “Yes, basics first.”

Emma groaned. “Why do I feel like I’m back at school with an exam looming?”

“Don’t be silly. I’ll quickly run through the names of the utensils and what they’re used for, then you can have a go at cutting up the ingredients.”

“Exciting.”

“You will learn to cook.” Regina told her.

“Can’t we leave it until it’s your turn to choose the holiday activity?”

“No. I’m putting it on my work list, the ones for town improvements.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Tough.”

“It’s really mean.” Emma tried.

“You’re welcome to microwave one of the frozen meals, but I thought you’d want to learn how to make Henry a birthday cake.”

“Then lets start with that.”

Regina laughed. “Oh no, healthy food first. Then I’ll show you the birthday cake recipe.”

Emma picked up one of the knives and looked down at the freshly washed carrots as she spoke. “Chocolate cake?”

“With icing and everything.” Regina promised.

“Go ahead. Teach me to cook.”

 

# Chapter 34.

 

Regina got as far as teaching Emma three meals. After she successfully managed not to burn the third one, Regina caved and agreed to show her the cake recipe.

Now the diner kitchen looked like a large cake had exploded in the centre of the room. There were half-finished attempts at making the different parts of the cake on various surfaces. The flour appeared to be multiplying every time she blinked. Regina was praying that this wouldn’t be the moment Granny chose to wake up. Though if it was, she could always teleport away and leave Emma to take the blame. It was her mess after all.

“I think they have some cake mix at the store where you just add water.” Emma told her.

“And enough additives to make him hyperactive. Why not just feed him a box of sugar cubes?”

 “He’s a good kid. A little sugar won’t hurt him.”

“Do you even know what all those additives are? If you get a moment look up ‘Sunset Yellow FCF’ and then tell me that you want to make him one of those cakes. In some countries they’ve banned certain additives.”

“And you let them stock that food in the local store?”

“Other parents can feed their children whatever they want. Henry is not going to eat that food.”

“Fine, but we need some more ingredients. The spoon is stuck in the mixture this time and I can’t get it out.”

“What did you do, put cement in there? Add some more water.”

Emma rubbed a hand, covered in slimy cake mixture, across her forehead, trying to get her hair out of her eyes. “I can’t. All the large bowls were dirty so I’m using the small ones and it’s nearly full to the top, so the water will just spill over the edge.”

“Put it in the dishwasher and get another bowl. I’ll go to the shop.”

“Thanks. I’ll come with you.”

Regina held up a hand. “No, stay here you’ll just trail flour through the clean part of the diner. Maybe try cleaning up in here while you wait and turn the dishwasher on. I’ll be quicker teleporting there and back.”

Before Emma could argue, she teleported away.

~

Regina took her time selecting the items they needed. When she went back to the diner she found that Emma had cleared a small workspace and was putting on a second lot into the dishwasher.

Regina set up two mixing bowls side by side and set out two sets of ingredients.

“This time I’m going to make the cake at the same time as you. You can watch me perform each step and copy me. Hopefully there won’t be any mistakes this way.” She explained to Emma.

“And at least we’ll have one edible cake to eat after dinner.” Emma replied cheerfully.

“We will have two, if you concentrate and follow my instructions.” Regina assured her.

~~

Two cakes stood cooling on the rack as they finished eating their dinner. Regina had decided to leave the instructions on icing for another time.

“You try it first, please.” Emma begged her.

“Well it smells like a cake.” Regina still looked at it dubiously and cut a slice, pleased to note that it neither blunted the knife nor looked undercooked.

She broke off a small piece with a dessert fork and took a dainty bite. Emma watched with baited breath.

“Well?” She asked.

Regina nodded and smiled. “Congratulations. Your first successful cake.”

“Wonderful. Does this mean you’ll starting cooking again?”

“You’ve made one cake correctly. You still need to practice until you can make each cake a success.”

“Can we take a break from my cooking for a while. I learn much more watching you cook.”

“You’re in luck. I can’t afford to keep re-stocking the grocery store every other day for your cooking experiments.”

“Yes!”

“So we’ll have them once a week. The rest of the time you can observe what I’m doing and I’ll ask you questions to see if you’ve been paying attention. Then, when it’s your turn to cook, you’ll know what you’re doing.”

“Deal.”

 

# Chapter 35.

 

She couldn’t believe how clumsy she was. For the second time she had managed to knock Regina’s bag off the table and spill it’s contents everywhere. Emma was on her hands and knees trying to find the final item when Regina came back into the room.

“Really Miss Swan? Again?”

“If you closed your bag properly…”

“…Are you sure you’re not doing it on purpose to spy on me?”

“Oh yes, it’s so important to know what shade of lipstick you’re wearing.”

“I hope you’ve found everything.”

“Except the mirror.”

“That wasn’t in the bag. I’ve put it in a safer place.”

Of course Regina had thought she was keeping the bag safe by leaving it outside of the kitchen and Emma’s reach.

“Then everything is back in place. What’s so special about the mirror?”

“Nothing.” Regina replied quickly. “I mean, it’s a family heirloom. My mother brought it with her when she came back.”

“Oh.” Emma was confused.

She knew Regina had lied when she said it was nothing, but there seemed to be something missing when she mentioned her mother. Inspiration struck.

“Are you going riding again soon?”

“Are you finally ready to give it a real try?”

“Heck no.” She didn’t have to pause and thing before answering. “But it puts you in a good mood and I wanted to slack off this afternoon and watch a movie or something.”

Regina took a moment trying to figure out if she was lying, but the younger woman was still an enigma. “So if I take the afternoon off to go riding it justifies your desire to ‘slack off’ again?”

“Come on, you know you want to go riding again… please?”

“Stay away from the kitchen, and alcohol. I want the town still standing when I get back. Remember the entire fire department is unavailable for emergencies.”

“I’m not a teenager anymore.”

“No comment.” Regina hid a smirk.

~~

Emma set up a film, skipping to the last few minutes, and then waited a little longer before heading out. If Regina thought the mirror was safe it had to be somewhere no-one else could find it. The mansion was out. Everyone could access it and try to break in. That left the crypt.

She drove there, parking her car further down the road in case Regina was riding nearby, and crept inside. Thanks to Mary Margaret’s explanation of where she found Cora’s heart, Emma knew where to look. The door to Regina’s secret room was closed, but she held out her hand and pressed her magic into it the same way she did when raising the barrier around her parent’s room.

The door opened.

She found the mirror quickly, sitting on top of a table in clear view and approached it cautiously. Knowing it might be protected by magic, Emma wrapped her sleeve around her hand before reaching out to pick it up.

 

# Chapter 36.

 

The mirror was aware of her presence. It was a protective measure Cora had implemented, just in case. She knew Emma was there and because it suited her plans she cancelled the spell that would have harmed anyone other than Regina for touching it. As Emma opened the mirror, the Cora inside altered her voice and her appearance to that of her daughter.

Emma dropped the mirror in shock as it spoke. It remained open on the floor, spitting out the harsh voice of the Evil Queen, facing away from her. The mirror thought it was talking to Regina, she realised. It was telling her to destroy her enemies, to take back her son and get revenge for everything Snow White had done to her. Then it mentioned the Saviour. Emma listened, frozen in place as it suggested how to deal with the only witness to her new curse.

How long had Regina been listening to the mirror? Emma couldn’t understand why she would have such a thing. Regina had been trying so hard to be good… She was supposed to be able to tell when someone was lying to her! Was Regina using magic to trick her into trusting her? No wonder she panicked when Emma had found the mirror before. If it had started talking back then the secret would have been out.

Emma couldn’t listen to the mirror anymore. She reached down to close it and returned it to the table, her hand shaking.

~~

Emma had been right. The ride made her feel great and she was smiling as she walked back through the town. She stopped at the grocery store and picked up the ingredients to make a special dessert, a treat for Emma’s sweet tooth. She got to Mary Margaret’s apartment and knocked on the door. There was no answer so she assumed Emma had finished watching her film and gone to the Sheriffs station to catch up on some work. It didn’t matter; she would head over to the diner and put the shopping away, ready for later.

When that was done, she walked back through the town, pressing the button on the walktetalkie to tell Emma she had finished her ride. Emma didn’t respond straightaway and when she did her voice sounded strange.

“Are you okay?” Regina asked.

“Yes, I’ve got a headache so I think I’ll stay home tonight.”

“If you want, I can bring over some of the meals I froze and left at the diner? I’ve just dropped off supplies.”

“It’s fine, I picked up some ready meals at the store, I’ll just microwave them and have an early night.”

Regina stood at the corner of the street where Emma lived and watched her walk towards Mary Margaret’s apartment. “Do you need me to pick you up some headache tablets?”

“No thanks. I’ve found where Mary Margaret keeps them. I’m just sitting around in my pj’s and I have everything I need, so I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Regina frowned. Why was Emma lying to her? Where had she been today that made her act this way?

She took a moment to think back over her last conversation with Emma. They’d been in the diner. Emma had made a chocolate cake. They’d eaten some of it and tidied up the kitchen. Emma had suggested taking a break. No wait, before that. Emma had knocked over her handbag. She’d asked about the mirror.

Regina shook her head. That was silly. She’d explained it was just an old mirror. Emma wouldn’t have any reason to suspect anything else.

Except… she had that stupid ‘power’ to tell when someone was lying.

Regina allowed herself, in her head and not out loud, to swear.

 

# Chapter 37.

 

Everything was going to be ruined. All because Emma was too nosy for her own good. Regina swept into the crypt, noticing the tell-tale signs of an intruder and opened the mirror.

“What did you say to Emma?” She demanded of her mother.

Cora’s face smiled back at her. “Regina. It’s good to see you again. Are you ready to listen to me?”

“I know Emma was here. I’m sure you did something or said something to her and I want to know what it was or…”

“Or what dear?”

“Or… or I’ll do something…” Regina wracked her brain for the perfect bribe to make Cora finally co-operate. “I’ll hand myself over to Rumplestiltskin to remove my powers, then let Snow White lock me up so that I’ll never have the chance to be Queen again.”

“How will that help you get Henry back?”

“Actually that’s something Henry would approve of.”

“You always were melodramatic, even as a child.”

Regina just waited.

“Very well. I knew Emma was the one opening the mirror so told her what she expected to hear.”

“Which was?”

“Our ideas for revenge, how much we hate her mother…. Of course they weren’t the best ideas, just good enough to make her believe them.”

Regina unconsciously summoned a fireball into her hand in anger. “You’ve just made everything worse.”

“Did you really believe Emma would fall for your act? You’ve cursed the entire town, _again_ , and she’s supposed to think you’ve suddenly become her friend?”

Regina couldn’t speak. The truth in her mother’s words was too strong. The fireball disappeared as tears appeared in her eyes.

“You know I’m the only person who cares about you. Look how quickly everyone turns away when they think you’ve done something wrong.”

“I just wanted…”

“I know, but that’s not the life you’re meant to have Regina. I’ve been trying to tell you that all along. Let me help you.”

“I…”

“It’s going to be okay, I promise.”

Regina walked over to the sofa and sat down. She closed her eyes and took a moment to think. Why did she always let her mother get inside her head?

“I want to end this curse. I can’t rule if everyone is asleep.” She told Cora.

“Of course, but you need to make some preparations before you wake them.”

“I’m listening.”

~~

Emma curled up on the sofa, wishing her parents would just wake up and tell her what to do. They knew Regina, they would understand what was going on. She wished there was a way to access her magic and break the curse.

The walkietalkie crackled and Emma heard the sound of several items falling to the floor. Then she heard Regina’s voice. She was arguing with someone. As she listened, Emma recognised Cora’s voice. She heard Regina say that she was just a mirror and that she had to tell her how to break the curse.

“I’ve waited long enough. You keep saying you want to help me, but you’re only telling me to hurt everyone. The only way I’m going to be happy again is if you let me live my life the way I want to. I want to be good, for Henry. Just tell me how to undo the curse. Please.”

“The girl will never trust you.”

“What did you tell her?”

“The truth. I let her see the Evil Queen. It’s who you are Regina.”

“No. You’re ruining my life again. Now tell me how to break the curse or I’ll…”

“You’ll what? My power is stronger than yours.”

“You’re just a mirror.”

“I’m your mother and I care about you.”

“Then prove it and tell me how to wake everyone up.”

There was the sound of Regina picking up whatever had fallen earlier and the walkietalkie connection cut out.

Emma stared at it for a long while. She wanted to believe what she had just heard. It sort of made sense; the mirror was something Cora had made to keep Regina doing what she wanted in case she wasn’t around. Regina had been talking to the mirror to get the spell to wake everyone up. She wasn’t evil anymore.

 

# Chapter 38.

 

Regina cautiously knocked on Emma’s door, early the next morning. She opened it still wearing the same clothes as the previous day and looking tired.

“I can undo the curse.” Regina told her.

Emma smiled at the good news. “That’s great. Do you need me to do anything?”

“No. I need to be back in my room at night, the same as when I cast the curse. I just wanted to warn you.”

“How did you figure it out?”

“My mother helped. Well, a little present she left for me. But you know about the mirror already.”

Emma nodded. “It said you still wanted to hurt everyone.”

“It wanted you to turn against me so that I’d be alone again. My mother thought it would make me listen to her.”

“We’ve survived on our own for ages now. You’ve been good all this time. Nothing has to change when everyone wakes up.”

“I don’t want to be evil anymore. No-one will let me be one of the good guys either so I don’t have much of a choice. I just have to make a few changes. You’ve shown me that I can be on my own in this town and still find a reason to get up in the morning. Thank you.”

“Give them a chance.”

“You don’t know them like I do. I’m only sorry it means we can’t be friends. No-one would understand.”

“Henry might.”

Regina forced herself to ignore the words and continued. “This is going to be the last day of the curse. I understand if you want to spend it alone.”

“What do you want to do?”

Regina took a deep breath. “I would like to do something I would never have dared to do with everyone awake.”

~~

As the sun began to set, Regina lined up the fireworks along the beach. Emma sat on the bench with a blanket over her lap to keep her warm and watched her. Regina had insisted on paying for them and refused to let Emma anywhere near them.

_“Just in case.” Regina explained to her sternly. “And I’ll light them.”_

_“You know what goes great with fireworks?” Emma asked her._

_“What?”_

_“Bonfires and toasting marshmallows.”_

So they had a small fire, a bag of the soft and sickeningly sweet marshmallows and fireworks. Regina returned to the bench and lit the first firework with her magic.

As it shot off into the air she smiled. It was more beautiful than anything she could have created with her magic. It burst into brilliant bright colours and let out a noise she would normally complain was deafening, but it was worth it.

“Thank you for today.” She told Emma.

“Not a problem. This whole thing has been… interesting. I don’t think I’ll forget it in a hurry.”

“Neither will I.”

They sat in silence, watching as Regina lit the next few fireworks. Then she nudged Emma and reached out a hand for one of the marshmallows. What did she have to loose? It might be her last chance to try one. Tomorrow everyone would wake up.

 

# Chapter 39.

 

Regina walked with Emma back to Mary Margaret’s apartment.

“You’ll remember your promise, won’t you?” Emma asked.

“What promise?”

“ _Regina_.”

“If you don’t forget that you said I could see Henry on his birthday.”

“Of course.”

Emma opened the front door. “Can you stay a while? Or do you need to get back and start the magic?”

“Still need me to wait until you fall asleep?”

“One last time.”

“Very well. One hour, no more.”

“I got some apple cider from the store. It won’t be as strong as yours, but…”

“That was very thoughtful. Thank you.”

They sat on the sofa and Emma switched the television on. It saved them from having to make conversation and distracted her from her thoughts. Regina made Emma a hot chocolate, poured herself a drink of apple cider and carried them over to the sofa. Emma flicked through the channels as she sipped at the hot drink and tried to stifle a yawn.

“Why don’t you lie down now and rest your head against this cushion?” Regina asked, passing one of the small squares over.

“Good idea.” Emma closed her eyes and felt her mind drifting away.

Regina watched as she wove the sleeping spell over Emma. She hadn’t wanted to put anything in the drink just in case she made it too strong and Emma drank too much of it. This spell would put her in a deep sleep and she could be re-awoken just as easily with another spell, it was much better than using a sleeping curse.

When she was sure the other woman had naturally fallen asleep she put her drink down and walked quietly towards her, finishing the sleeping spell.

“I’m sorry about this.” She whispered. “I guess it’s just proof that I’m not meant to get a happy ending.”

Regina gently pressed her lips to Emma’s, locking the final magic into the spell. 

~~

_Flashback:_

_“First we need to deal with Miss Swan.” Cora’s voice was calm as she spoke, knowing that her daughter was finally listening to her. “She mustn’t tell anyone that they were asleep.”_

_“How? We can’t kill her, Henry would never forgive me.”_

_“We make her think it has all been a dream. Put her to sleep and undo every change you’ve made to the town. Then let her wake up with everyone else.”_

_“What about removing her memories?” Regina suggested as she took another sip from her glass._

_Dealing with Cora, even if it was only through an enchanted mirror, still made her feel like a small child. She had always been frightened of her mother’s rage and she knew it lurked behind each word waiting for her to make her angry._

_“That could be broken with True Love’s kiss. Better to have her think it was a dream so that she doesn’t talk to anyone about it.”_

_“She won’t let me get close enough to put her to sleep now. She thinks I’ve been plotting against her.”_

_“Then we’ll just have to convince her that you’ve been resisting the evil mirror, won’t we?”_

_“How?”_

_“Switch on the walkietalkie and pretend to be fighting with me. She’ll overhear us and trust you again.”_

_“I don’t know…”_

_“She’s Snow White’s daughter. Like her mother she will want to believe in the goodness of others. That’s what makes her weak.”_

_“Yes mother.”_

 

# Chapter 40.

 

Mary Margaret gently shook her daughter, trying to wake her.

“Come on Emma, it’s morning.”

Emma sighed and turned over on the sofa. “Another five minutes. Please.”

“You’ve got to take Henry to school soon.”

Emma sat up and nearly rolled off the sofa. “You’re awake!”

She jumped up and hugged her parents.

“Are you alright?” David asked her.

Emma was practically dancing around the room.

“She did it!” She told her parents.

“What?”

“Regina, she broke the curse! You’re awake again.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh my God, wait until you see what we’ve been doing!” Emma was grinning at her parents, trying to decide what to tell them first.

“Emma slow down.”

“Sorry. Aren’t you wondering why you woke up this morning in your room when you didn’t fall asleep there?”

“We woke up on the stools on the kitchen counter. The same place we fell asleep last night.” David told her gently.

“No, because I moved you there…” Emma paused. “Wait, that picture’s back on the wall. I moved it…”

Mary Margaret looked to where she was pointing. “Emma I put that up yesterday. Did you have a bad dream?”

“No. It was real. It really happened, I know it did. I can prove it.” She headed out the front door before they could stop her.

David just shrugged at his wife. “You go, I’ll take Henry to school.”

~~

_Flashback:_

_Regina smashed through the barrier with her magic. It was weaker now that Emma was sleeping and didn’t take long to break down. She used her magic to return Snow White and Prince Charming to their original positions, glad that she didn’t have to physically touch them._

_That was the first task. Now she had the rest of the town to fix. Once that was done, she had to use almost all of her magic to wake everyone up. This was her last chance._

_She laid a blanket gently over Emma and went to see her son. Even if he couldn’t hear her, she had to explain it to him._

_~~_

Mary Margaret followed Emma from Archie’s office to the Sheriff’s station and across to the diner. Emma wouldn’t slow down long enough to talk to her. She kept growing angrier and angrier as she looked for something she just couldn’t find, rudely ignoring everyone they passed.

“Wait!” Mary Margaret finally told her.

Emma turned to face her. “You don’t understand.”

“You can’t go to Regina’s house like this.”

They were standing on the path outside the ex-mayor’s house. There was a look of complete fear on Mary Margaret’s face. She couldn’t bring herself to take a step closer.

“No, you can’t go. I can.” Emma walked up to the front door and opened it without looking back.

~~

_Flashback:_

_It hurt. There was so much pain. Regina had forgotten the price of using dark magic. Once upon a time she had become used to it enough that it didn’t hurt. Now, after so long without using it she was in agony. Her skull felt as though it was splitting open, her skin was burning from the inside and she was trapped, unable to move. The sickly magic she had stored from the curse Rumplestiltskin placed at the well poured through her and into the mirror. It began to blacken and melt, the silver giving way to the darkness trapped within. She could feel her mother’s power as it was released. It fought back, not willing to give up it’s hold on the object, but the Dark One’s magic was stronger and eventually it was destroyed. The backlash caused Regina to pass out. Her magic was drained and she was exhausted._

_There was no way to track time as she lay there, and by the time she woke her limbs were stiff and her stomach rebelling at the lack of food. She crawled into the closest bathroom, turning on the sink taps to drink as much of the water as she could. She splashed some on her face and was horrified by her own reflection. It would take time to heal, both her body and her magic. Henry would have to wait a little longer before she could visit him._

 

# Chapter 41.

 

Emma ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Regina sat in the room of the possessions she had destroyed before the accidental curse had begun. Grey dust clung to her clothes but she didn’t care. She hadn’t been in the room since destroying everything. It seemed suitable that she come back here now.

“I know.” Emma stepped quietly into the room as she spoke and Regina twisted around to look at her.

“What?”

“You tried to make me think everything was just a dream, but you forgot a couple of things.”

“Miss Swan….”

“Was it so horrible? Having a sandcastle competition, daring each other to try on ridiculous clothes we’d never wear? The dares involving Mr Gold? I thought we became friends and it was great.”

Regina stood up. “You have no proof any of that ever happened.”

“I know how to cook.”

“Maybe you fell asleep listening to a cooking show.”

“You forgot to explain how to make the icing for Henry’s birthday cake. I can fix the dishwasher at Granny’s. I can’t believe you broke it again by the way. You should offer to give them the part they need at least.”

“I’m sure they’re capable of hiring someone to fix anything which is broken.”

“I understand cleaning the wall at the station, but I spent time on Pongo’s doghouse and sorting books in the library. Now that’s wasted.”

“It sounds like you’ve had an interesting dream Miss Swam.”

“No, I know it was real. There’s no scar but my hand still hurts from the glass.”

“Don’t you think if I’d done everything you say that I’d have used my magic to make you forget?”

“Unless you thought I’d believe the lie about the dream.”

“Why would you even care? What does it matter if any of it was real?”

“Because!”

Regina just glared at her. Emma tried again, trying to plan her words this time.

“We were getting along. You were having fun.”

“No Miss Swan, you’re mistaken.”

“Come on, Regina…”

“Yesterday, my mother died. Today I have to deal with that. I don’t have time for any of your fantasies.”

“Henry…”

“No. Stop it. I don’t want to hear it.”

“You let that stupid mirror get to you.”

Regina turned away and looked up, trying to remove the tears from her eyes. Emma grabbed her arm and turned her back around. She looked down at Regina’s hand which was balled into a tight fist.

“What’s that?”

Regina opened her hand and showed her the black half-melted ball of metal. “Just something I had to destroy.”

“That’s the mirror! You really did it?” Emma reached out to touch it but Regina drew her hand back.

“Still don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Look, I just wanted to let you know that I remembered. Everything.”

“And now you’re going to tell everyone.”

“Regina, you don’t get it. I remember **everything**.”

“What?”

Emma leant in and brushed her lips gently against Regina’s cheek. “I wasn’t asleep straight away. I heard what you said to me.”

Regina quickly pulled away. “No. I can’t deal with this right now.”

It felt as though her mother was trying to pull out her heart but was struggling to dislodge it. Regina tried to breathe.

“I understand. There’re things I need to sort through with Neal and my parents…”

“Nothing’s changed.” Suddenly Regina could breathe again. “I’m still the Evil Queen and you’re still the Saviour. We’re going to keep on being those people because that’s what everyone expects. I won’t let them know anything else. If you try to tell them I will have to use my magic and then people will get hurt.”

“Why?”

_Because every time I get close to someone, I’m left all alone._

Regina couldn’t say the words. She was weak from destroying the mirror and feeling weak made her feel scared. So she stood in silence until Emma left, then went to look out of her bedroom window at the town below.

 

# Chapter 42.

 

## AN: Alternate SQ ending.

~~

_Emma ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Regina sat in the room of the possessions she had destroyed before the accidental curse had begun. Grey dust clung to her clothes but she didn’t care. She hadn’t been in the room since destroying everything. It seemed suitable that she come back here now._

_“I know.” Emma stepped quietly into the room as she spoke and Regina twisted around to look at her._

_“What?”_

_“You tried to make me think everything was just a dream, but you forgot a couple of things.”_

_“Miss Swan….”_

_“Was it so horrible? Having a sandcastle competition, daring each other to try on ridiculous clothes we’d never wear? The dares involving Mr Gold?”_

_Regina stood up. “You have no proof any of that ever happened.”_

She grimaced in pain as Emma grabbed her hand to help her.

“What is it?”

“Nothing. I was just sitting too long.”

“No, it’s your hand. Let me see.” Emma was still holding her hand and didn’t wait for Regina to turn it over.

There was a round mark on Regina’s hand where the skin had blackened. Emma gave a low whistle as Regina swayed unsteadily on her feet.

“What did you do?”

“You saw, I destroyed everything in this room.”

“Quit lying to me for five seconds. Is it going to get infected? Do you need to see Dr. Whale?”

“I think I can heal it, when my magic recovers.” Regina lied, not really sure how long that would take.

Emma still looked suspicious. “It’s the same size and shape as the mirror.”

“Do you mind if we go into another room? I think I need to sit back down again.”

Regina leant on Emma as they walked towards the door. Emma’s foot kicked against something on the floor. It rolled ahead of them, a small misshapen ball.

“That’s the mirror.” Emma told her, pausing where they were. “You destroyed it!”

Regina’s eyes narrowed. “Of course I did. I had to. It was too dangerous. Once my moth….once it told me how to undo the curse I didn’t need it anymore.”

“Ha! There, you admit it.”

“Fine, it was all true. I also had to put you under a sleeping spell, if you must know, because I needed it to believe I was doing what it wanted. It was the only way to get the information on reversing the curse and to give me time to figure out how to destroy the mirror. Are you happy now? You can go out and tell everyone the truth, that I behaved like a complete idiot when they were all asleep and that my mother created an evil mirror to make me…”

Emma grabbed Regina’s shoulders to get her attention. “Shut up.” She told her and leant in to kiss her.

It only lasted a few seconds, Emma’s bravery wavering as she realised what she was doing. Regina looked completely stunned and pulled back as if afraid.

“You kissed me first.” Emma reminded her.

Regina opened her mouth and closed it again. Her mind was completely blank, she couldn’t think of anything to say and her heart was beating against her chest so fast she felt faint.

“I’m sorry.” Emma tried to fill the silence. “You don’t have to say anything, I’ll just go and maybe we can forget this whole thing…”

As she turned to leave, Regina shook herself out of her daze. “Wait.”

Emma paused and bit her bottom lip as she spun back around to face Regina, a faint trace of hope in her eyes.

“Look…” Regina began as she took a step towards her. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t. You’ve had more than enough chances if you wanted to. In fact, you’ve taken care of me. You cooked for me, looked after my hand when I cut it…”

Regina smiled at Emma and shook her head. There were no words for what was in her heart.

“To heck with the rest of Storybrooke.” Emma told her, knowing what was on her mind. “Do you…”

Regina reached out and brushed her good hand through Emma’s hair, drawing her closer. Emma took a deep breath in anticipation and closed her eyes as their lips finally met again.

This time the kiss lasted a lot longer. Neither of them could imagine breaking it. Eventually they could hear someone ringing the doorbell and banging on the front door.

“I guess I should answer that. They’re probably worried I’m keeping you here against your will for revenge.” Regina laughed.

“It’s just Mary Margaret.” Emma said off-hand, distracted by her lips tingling.

“In that case, let her wait a little longer.” Regina’s eyes twinkled mischievously at Emma as she spoke and she moved towards her for another kiss.

When they finally broke apart again, Emma laced her fingers through Regina’s and rested her head on the other woman’s shoulder.

“I’m still feeling a little weak from destroying the mirror. Perhaps you should go down on your own.” A little bit of fear crept into her voice.

“No, we face her together.”

The knocking continued from downstairs.

“Before she gets over her fear and tries to break down the door.” Regina agreed. “What are you going to say to her?”

“That she needs to back off, I’m not a child. I can take care of myself and make my own decisions. You?”

“That I’ve had time to think and I don’t want to take her heart. That’s something the old me would have done.”

“Too late.” Emma teased her as they reached the top of the stairs. “I think you’ve just spent the last few …weeks?…months?…stealing my heart.”

Regina blushed and there were tears of happiness in her eyes at Emma’s words. “You’re not innocent of such crimes yourself.”

Emma gave a goofy-looking grin back. “I think we need another sleeping spell for everyone, I want some more time along with this new you.”

“And Henry.” Regina reminded her.

“Of course.” Emma reached up to gently wipe at the tears on Regina’s cheeks. “You old softy.”

“I’m in pain. I just destroyed an evil, enchanted mirror and my hand is injured.”

“You didn’t start crying until…”

They were at the bottom of the stairs, then nearly at the front door, still walking holding hands.

“What sort of things did you have in mind?” Regina interrupted. “If we had more time alone.”

Emma reached for the door handle, wanting to finish speaking before she opened it. “Just some normal dates, going to the beach, the movies. Maybe spending time together doing something fun… I know a dishwasher that needs re-fixing and a doghouse that needs painting.”

Emma tightened her grip on Regina’s hand, refusing to allow her to let go.

“Emma!” Regina’s words coincided with the door opening and Mary Margaret staring at them in shock.

 


End file.
